


Turning Page

by mltrefry



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bella Swan with a Backbone, F/M, New Moon alternate, Romance, Soulmates, a more mature bella swan, a sort of slow burn, absolutely no breaking dawn, background Demetri/Felix, but I couldn't resist the epic battle, but there's no bashing, events of eclipse loosely followed, normal amounts of vampire gore, not a super edward friendly fic, okay fine, when I said absolutely no breaking dawn I more or less meant no hybrid baby for Bella
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:22:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 236,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mltrefry/pseuds/mltrefry
Summary: After being so certain for so long that Bella was unconditionally, irrevocably in love with Edward, the absurdity of their romance comes crashing over her about the same moment she crashes into him, saving him from exposure and death by the Volturi.But she still wants to be part of his world, still feels it's where she belongs, still knows it's where she would be happiest, where her heart would be most fulfilled. That only becomes that much clearer when she meets the closest thing vampires have to royalty.
Relationships: Aro/Bella Swan
Comments: 556
Kudos: 814





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome! If you're here going "I know I've read this, but it was under a different name" you'd be right! Originally I wrote this one under the pseudonym Iamknownbyanothername. The reasons for this are many and varied but now that it's done, and has been for over a month, I have decided to put it under my normal name. Old comments will still list the old pseudo but it's all still me.

Sometimes it takes being in the thick of things for someone to realize that maybe the way they've been, the decisions they made, were wrong.

Well, maybe wrong wasn't the right word, but the decisions certainly weren't smart. Not what an intelligent young woman would have made.

Bella Swan realized this as she stood in a fountain in Volterra, looking at the clock tower, seeing Edward in the shadows ready to kill himself because he was under the belief she died. And that was completely insane because how could he rely so much on Alice's visions? How could he not _know_ she wasn't really gone. How couldn't he feel it?

And she also realized how insane she'd been, the months of being nothing more than a shell, the times she put herself in danger because she could hear his voice in her head, telling her _not_ to be stupid. Her conscience sounded like him, and it sort of churned her stomach. Bella before Forks would have scoffed at her. Thought her boy crazy and ridiculous. For all she had been with Edward, for running off to Italy with nothing more than a note for Charlie, for leaving Jacob the way she did. Jacob, who she had suddenly realized, as the clock chimed and the brother of her friend began to step out of the shadows, who she had loved. Maybe not as much as he for her, but she did love him, and it was real. As she sprinted across the water and toward Edward, she realized that she actually would have been fine if she had never seen him again. Sad, a little hollow like something was missing, but she would have felt that way in regards to the Cullens in general. They gave her a world she didn’t know existed, one she longed to be part of.

A world where there were few laws, and Edward was about to break one of the most sacred. She couldn’t let him do that, not because of her, not when it would break so many hearts.

“Don’t!” She cried as she slammed into him, the air knocked out of her, and bruises likely already forming under her skin. She felt his arms go around her, a touch too tight.

“Carlisle was right. They are fast.” He said into her neck, and she thought he breathed the word heaven, but she couldn’t be sure and didn’t care. She pounded on his shoulder, trying to get him to snap out of it.

“No, I’m here. I’m alive.” She insisted, now shoving uselessly against him.

He leaned back then, taking her in, confused.

“Please,” She said, glancing behind her, above her at the relenting sun shining down. Its warmth was radiating on her back, informing her of just how close to the sunlight they were. “Step back. I’m alive, I’m-”

There was once a time in the previous months, before Jacob and two-wheeled death machines, before werewolves and vengeful vampires, that Bella had feared she’d forgotten what it was like to kiss Edward again. How she longed for one more, to feel his cool, hard skin against hers. But she didn’t long for it now, and after so long she found that maybe it wasn’t like she remembered at all. It was still good, still nice, but she didn’t feel utterly addicted to it anymore.

It made it easy to pull back before he figured out she wasn’t really kissing him back.

“You’re here,” He said, much more in the shade now having moved them away from the precipice. 

“I’m here,” She assured him, now trying to figure out a way to extract herself from his hold while she mentally sorted out her own feelings as well as his.

But she didn’t have to, because no sooner had he seemed ready to kiss her again, and she leaning away, Edward stiffened. And for just a moment, she thought he realized the same thing she had, about their months apart and where they stood now, but then she was shoved behind him.

Frowning, Bella peeked around him, in time to see two young-looking, red-eyed vampires emerge from the shadows.

“I won’t be needing your services after all, gentlemen.” Edward had said in a slightly less than casual voice.

“Aro wants to speak with you again,” One of them informed Edward, and Bella vaguely recalled the three men from the painting in the Cullens’ home, and how one of them had that name.

“No rules were broken.” Edward insisted. 

But the other vampire smiled in a way that made Bella think that that wasn’t likely the case, and she swallowed hard. Had she not been fast enough? How was she possibly going to tell Alice that she had brought her here for nothing, that she failed the family?

“We should take this conversation to a more appropriate venue,” The smiling vampire said in a way that was not to be argued.

Edward hesitated, then nodded slightly.

“Fine,” He relented before turning to her over his shoulder. “The girl comes with us.” The first vampire, a big brute insisted, and for the first time since Laurent in the meadow, Bella felt truly, properly terrified.

“That’s not going to-”

“Come on, guys,” Alice’s voice cut through the tension, and Bella momentarily sagged with relief. “It’s a festival.” She skipped up to them, standing between the two, threatening strangers and them. “You wouldn’t want to make a scene.”

“There won’t be any scene,” The brute promised. “And we’ll still win.”

“Not easily,” Edward insisted.

“Enough,” Another voice chimed in, and Bella craned around to see a young girl, who barely looked older than fourteen. There was an authority about her that was not to be challenged, whether it was in the way she dressed, or the way the other two vampires easily backed down in her presence, she couldn’t be sure. But it was fascinating, especially when even Edward and Alice seemed to cower to her.

“Jane,” Edward addressed the girl, who then tossed him an overcoat.

“Follow me,” She didn’t ask, turning and leading the five of them away from the scene of the almost crime. They stuck to dark alleys, which wasn’t surprising given the intense light of day. The two vampires who approached Edward had fallen to the back, fencing them in, likely to keep them from running. Bella glanced over her shoulder at them a couple of times, intrigued by them, and still quite terrified. They smirked at her, and whether it was because of Edward’s unrelenting grip on her arm, or that they could likely hear her heart pounding wildly in her chest, she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t want to know, not really, but the feeling of their eyes on the back of her head still had her turning about.

Eventually, they came to an elevator, the quiet and the chipper music nearly comical when it felt more and more like they were making their way to the gallows. And to keep herself from laughing inappropriately, Bella recalled all the reasons they were likely being led down there. 

Edward tried to expose himself.

And she stopped him because she was a human who knew of his true existence and didn’t want to see the family he belonged to hurt because he tried to kill himself. Because of her.

Exposure times two, it would likely be a miracle if they made it out alive. She wondered if Edward would be forced to kill her himself, or if she’d become a snack for someone else.

The elevator stops, and as they step out, they’re greeted in Italian by a very lovely, very human receptionist.

Bella frowned, glancing at the woman who appeared unafraid and unconcerned about their appearances.

“Does she know?” She asked quietly, figuring Edward or Alice would answer.

It was the former. “Yes,” He said in a regretful voice.

“Then why… she wants to be.” Bella said with complete understanding, and perhaps a little envy. It was what she wanted, too. What she still wanted, if she could have it. Maybe they would need a new receptionist after this one was changed.

“And so she will be.” One of the vampires behind her said.

“For dessert,” Jane said with sinister amusement ahead of them as she pushed open a set of heavy doors, that led inside to what appeared to be a very elegant, if not dreary throne room. There was a drain in the center of the floor that Bella wanted to ignore, and so she drew her eyes up to the ceiling. Her mouth opened at the splendor above her but was promptly reminded that she wasn’t here to view the decor when there was a loud, single clap.

“What a happy surprise!” Someone with a musical, cheerful voice said. “Bella is alive after all. Isn’t that wonderful? They are so rare.”

Bella was startled by the sudden presence of yet another unfamiliar vampire very much in her personal space, currently removing Edward’s grip from her arm to take his hand.

She kept her eyes down in difference, recalling that Edward had once referred to the Volturi as the closest thing his kind had to royalty. And a quick peek at the thrones on the dias tipped her off that the man before them was very likely one of those kings. Aro, seeing as how he wanted to speak to Edward himself.

“La Tua Cantante.” The man said in Italian. “Her blood appeals to you so much. It makes me thirsty. How can you stand to be so close to her?”

“It’s not without effort,” Edward said in a strained voice.

“I can see that,” The man chuckled.

“Aro can read every thought I’ve ever had with one touch.” Edward said, and Bella peeked at him to see he was explaining it to her. He then turned back to the man, “And now you know everything. So, get on with it.”

There was a pause. “You’re quite the soul-reader yourself, Edward. Though you can’t read Bella’s thoughts.” 

At the mention of her name, Bella looked up and was met with the crimson gaze of Aro.

To say time stood still would be ridiculous, as would stating that something in her soul shifted. There were no fireworks, no bird songs, or violins, or harps. But there was _something_. Something that made those red-eyes, the eyes of a human blood drinker, not so terrifying to look at. Something that made her feel like, regardless of what was going to happen with Edward or Alice, she was perfectly safe. 

And it wasn’t just her who felt this, because she was looking directly at Aro’s face, and she could see it all there, too. The slight, nearly-hidden surprise that happened on first eye contact, how his jaw unclenched, and something in his muscles relaxed. She knew without seeing that he’d let go of Edward’s hand almost immediately, and somewhere around them someone who hadn’t moved before shifted.

And she knew that while time didn’t stop, the seconds dragged on between them that probably shouldn’t have. Not long, not anything near a minute, but so much longer than any two strangers, two different creatures should have.

“Fascinating.” Aro breathed out, and Bella wondered if it was in reaction to whatever transpired between them, or Edward’s inability to read her thoughts. Aro had never broken eye contact with her, even when she inevitably had to blink. “I would love to see if you are an exception to my gifts as well,” He said, offering her his hand, palm up.

She should have hesitated, she knows that, but Bella didn’t bother. She didn’t want to, saw no reason to. She could sense Edward tensing beside her, felt the air move as his hand tried to grab her arm as she moved to put her hand in Aro’s. He never landed contact, though, and Bella didn’t look to see why.

Eyes still locked, Aro gently pulled her closer to him and away from Edward, ignoring the quiet protests of the Cullen vampires altogether. He placed his other hand on hers, cool and firm like all other vampires, his fingers skimming lightly atop her skin. 

There were more changes, less subtle this time. Expectant shifted to confusion. A tilt of his head, like Aro was trying to hear her better, and then, as Bella twisted her mouth to keep from smiling, he beamed at her. “I see nothing.” He said in amazement.

The room was silent, tense outside of the two of them.

“Are you not curious if she’s immune to all the gifted?” Another asked, and Aro finally looked away from her, allowing Bella to follow his gaze where he turned from her to the blond, ill-tempered man on one of the thrones.

“Caius,” The other said in warning.

Before more could be said, Edward shouted, “No!”

“Pain,” Jane said, and Edward dropped to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Bella reacted, though not in the way she once might have. She tensed, her hand curling around Aro’s wrist as it was still being held by him, the other in a fist.

“Stop,” She asked.

“Jane,” Aro said, and the girl immediately turned her sharp, malicious gaze from Edward to her.

Bella stared her down, glaring back, resisting the urge to snarl because as much as she knew -somehow- that Aro wouldn’t hurt her, she couldn’t be sure about everyone else in the room.

And then he laughed, a gleeful, childlike laugh as he gently tugged her arm, bringing her closer to him. “Remarkable!” He cried, and she turned to see him grinning in awe at her. “She confounds us all.”

“Even so, she’s a liability,” The blonde -Caius- stated. “She knows too much.”

“That’s true,” Aro agreed sadly. “If only it were Edward’s intention to give you immortality.”

“It’s what I want,” Bella said without hesitation.

“Bella, don’t,” Edward warned somewhere behind her, but she ignored him.

“Why do you want it?” Aro asked her, his brow furrowing. “Is it so you can spend eternity with… Edward?”

There was a gasp from Alice, but Bella ignored that, too, focusing on Aro as she admitted something she’d carried in her soul but confessed to no one. “I've always felt out of step, I've never felt normal. But in your world, in this world, I’ve felt more real, more myself. Because I think it’s my world, too. Ever since I made the discovery, pieced everything together, it’s what I wanted. And Edward leaving… it never really changed that for me.”

Aro seemed to understand, a knowing smile crossing his features.

“It will happen,” Alice said behind them, and Bella glanced over her shoulder to see her friend remove her glove with a sort of sad smile. “Not here,” She said as she stepped forward and offered Aro her hand. “Her father is in law enforcement. If she goes missing, there will be questions.”

Aro let go of Bella’s hand, and the moment he did, Edward darted forward and pulled her back, causing her feet to drag. Aro glanced at Edward with menace, then at her with a question. Unsure if she should actually be responding to a Vampire king, feeling multiple eyes on her, Bella nodded to indicate she was alright. 

He then turned to Alice, and took her hand in his, cupping it as he had hers, but his fingers remained still, and he bowed his head.

“Mesmerizing,” Aro said after a couple of seconds. “To see what you have seen, that which hasn’t happened.”

“Some visions were new,” Alice said. “But from the moment we met Bella, I knew.”

Aro nodded, then turned to Bella. “Do you have a date in mind?”

Bella went wide-eyed, and she felt Edward’s grip tighten a little but barely paid it any mind. “Umm,” She started ineloquently, blinking rapidly as she considered everything. It would have to be as soon as possible, but not so soon as to cause suspicion. She knew the Cullens wouldn’t allow her to change prior to graduation, and she figured immediately after would seem odd. “The end of the summer,” She finally answered. 

“Bella, no,” Edward quietly pleaded beside her. 

She raised her chin, meeting Aro’s gaze once more as if she were somehow defying him. “I can tell my father I’ve been accepted at a school abroad. Far enough away that coming home would be harder. I’ll figure it out from there.”

Aro smiled, bringing his hands together in a soft clap. “Marvelous.” He said, then extended his hand.

Bella stepped forward once more, shaking off Edward’s grip, and placed her hand in Aro’s again, this time in a handshake. But he still stepped closer, and after the bare-minimum of polite contact in a business deal, he lifted his hand and brushed her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the skin behind it. 

“You will make for an intriguing immortal, Isabella,” He drew out her name, the one she hated, but seemed perfectly normal coming from him. Probably the accent. “Go now,” he said, stepping back, looking at Alice and Edward a moment, opening his arms wide before glancing back at her. “Make your preparations.”

“And we will see you again, soon.” The older, more quiet vampire who occupied the third throne said, smiling at her before she was turned around and practically shoved out of the room by Edward.

~AB~

As soon as the doors were closed, Aro pressed his hands, shaking ever so slightly together in front of his mouth, touching his lips to the sides of them. Already there was an ache forming, deep in his chest, near his long-dead heart, and he felt both elated and nauseated.

“Marcus?” He asked, his voice surprisingly steady despite his turmoil.

“Yes,” his brother replied, a slight, happy note to his voice that Aro hadn’t heard since before Didyme. 

Aro closed his eyes, reining in the glee that coursed through him. 

Sulpicia had been precisely what he wanted in a mate, and he had turned her for that reason. But there was always something lacking between them. Their marriage, when it existed, had been perfunctory at best. He didn’t want to be the only leader of the Volturi unmarried, and she had wanted security and a bit of power, as a woman in her society would want back when she was human. But after Didyme’s death, when Marcus was so utterly distraught and obviously miserable, Aro and Sulpicia came to realize that, should something happen to one of them, the other would be sad, a little heartbroken, but they would move on. And so they moved apart. They denounced their marriage, remained a type of friend, and he placed her in Greece to watch over the covens there. 

He vowed after that to wait, taking only the occasional lover but not another spouse. He’d long given up hope that he would have a mate of his own. 

And to find her, now, in the human Edward thought was his.…

“What are the pair of you on about?” Caius demanded.

“She is who he has long waited for,” Marcus explained as discreetly as he could. It wasn’t as if they could clear the room, not with dinner being delivered today.

“The Cullens’…?” Caius asked in disgust.

“Yes,” Aro said, recalling how passionately Edward loved her, how strongly attached he felt to Isabella through the memories. He lowered his hands, all glee gone. “So, I must wait. She’ll return, once she’s turned.”

Alice had shown him that much, that Bella would be turned, and she would stand in this room as a vampire. A very beautiful, exquisite vampire. But Alice did not show him how or when she was changed or even gave an indication of how long it would be before Isabella returned. He’d glimpsed what she used to see: Isabella with the Cullen coven, hunting with Edward, hunting alone, but the last one….

He understood from her mind that she could only see the future when someone had decided something, and he knew Edward reading every thought meant he had to be careful. Starting a fight with the boy here over a human before he could confirm with Marcus that he saw the bond would have caused a problem, both with the Cullens and the view of the guard. Even now, those outside of his brothers were looking at him with confusion or concern.

Aro returned to his throne, tugging at the cuff of his sleeve and appearing as cool as he always did.

“We have yet to settle the matter in Seattle, Washington, over in America,” Marcus said in a nearly bored tone, and Aro turned ever so slightly toward him. “The newborns are growing conspicuous.”

“And so we shall send someone.” Aro agreed.

“Or we could have asked the Cullens to watch them for us, eliminate as necessary, as thanks to us for sparing them and thei- and Isabella.” Caius sneered, and Aro tilted his head.

“The Cullens?” He asked.

“They are the nearest coven,” Alec informed him, drawing Aro’s attention. “Seattle is very close to this… Forks… Carlisle chooses to inhabit.”

Forks. That’s where Isabella lives, he’d seen it in the minds of Edward and Alice, both of who have not been there in months.

“I shall go with the guard.” He said without hesitation. And before questions could be asked where they were not to be answered for all to hear, added, “I believe we will need more than mere representation when confronting this problem. It did work the last time newborns were created in abundance.”

Before more could be said, the doors opened, and his throat went dry, begging to be drenched in the blood being brought to his feet.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

First-class was comfortable and may have afforded some room, but not as much space as Bella would like. Edward insisted on being in the seat beside her, and she couldn’t think of a valid reason to tell him no. After all, the Cullens had covered her flight back, and she would have had to sit with someone. She’d have preferred Alice, but she had been insistent on sitting by herself for reasons Bella couldn’t wrap her head around.

It was after a lengthy phone call with Charlie in the airport that they boarded. Her note hadn’t said a lot, merely that she was going, but not where. She kept it vague, that she had applied for a school, and had been conditionally accepted but needed to do an in-person interview, something that couldn’t be done in Washington. That yes, Jake was right, she had spoken to Alice. That yes, Edward had been mentioned, but it was actually not her main reason for traveling. Well, it wasn’t anymore.

She was still thinking over the conversation with Charlie as they took off, and couldn’t help but note that it didn’t feel all that much like she lied. And she knew there would be consequences for her running off, he’d said as much, but in a way, she was actually sort of thankful for them. It would give her a buffer, some space, to think things through.

Like, for instance, how she had so blindly thrown away a year and bit of her life on Edward. 

As she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, she went through it all in her mind. She moved to Forks, she met him. He was a mystery she wanted to solve, and when she did suddenly they were a  _ thing.  _ He was dangerous, he was a killer, he was everything she should be afraid of, but he wasn’t. And somehow that led to a relationship? She hadn’t really been able to pinpoint when her crush grew out of control, and the more she thought on it, the more she was beginning to think her love had actually been for the vampire world, and he was merely the outlet. 

And then he left, they all had, and she was stuck alone in a world that had changed so fundamentally for her. She’d had a breakdown, and didn’t she  _ hate  _ herself a little for letting it happen? All the things she could have done, the life she could have had if she had only pushed through. But, Bella believed, it likely wouldn’t have mattered, not when she didn’t feel she belonged in the human world anymore. 

She really would have been just fine if the Cullens never came back. Not herself, not entirely, but she would have thrived with the Quileute tribe at least. 

But now it didn’t matter if they all came back to Forks or not. If by the end of the summer one of them didn’t turn her, she would fly to Italy, travel to Volterra, and return to the Volturi. Aro would change her, of that she was confident. He would make sure it would go as smoothly as possible, then….

Bella frowned in her fake sleep as she contemplated that. Would she remain with them? Become a member of their guard? Would she drink human blood? Or would he let her go to live how she liked, her promise to change fulfilled? She thought he might. She also thought that maybe that wouldn’t be what she wanted. 

“He liked her,” Edward said in the quiet, almost startling Bella. “He kept quieting his thoughts, stopping them, but he liked her a bit too much.”

Bella turned her head into her arm a little more to hide her smile. She knew who Edward was talking about, could still see those red eyes and the way they looked at her in her memory. How his touch lingered but wasn’t possessive. How he smiled at her. How Edward was very insistent on getting her away from Aro of the Volturi.

“She’s going to be gifted,” Alice reasoned. “We both know he collects gifted immortals. He’ll want us, now, too.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“Well, I have my suspicions.” She said with uncertainty. “I can’t see what decision he’ll make.”

There was another long pause of silence, long enough Bella almost drifted off.

“She seems distant.” Edward said, and Bella felt him stroke her hair. She shifted away, but he probably thought of it as movement in her sleep. 

“She came for you, though,” Alice replied encouragingly.

“But you’ve seen her on her own. You’ve seen her without me.”

“Bella has made the decision to become one of us with or without your help.” Alice said gently. “But Edward, if you love her-”

“I know.” He said with a sigh.

Bella had fallen asleep shortly afterward.

~*~

She’d been having a very pleasant dream. Cool caresses on her hand, a regency type romance, stolen glances, secretive smiles. A Gothic romance of blood-red eyes and blood-stained teeth. Of being Mina, but wanting the curse of the Vampire, sharing the blood of her Dracula, her vampire king in a castle.

But like so long ago, she felt eyes on her as she slept, and Bella was startled awake.

It took her a moment to remember she was back in her room. She’d slept fitfully on the plane, as one does, and it only managed to help her gain back some of the rest she didn’t get as she and Alice were on their way to Volterra. After a quick lecture from Charlie and an unanswered phone call to Jacob, Bella had gotten ready and crawled into her comfortable bed, wanting nothing more than to sleep until she had to get ready for school.

After she looked around and figured out where she was, she spotted Edward in the chair he used to occupy while keeping his distance. He grinned when she spotted him.

“Go back to sleep.” He encouraged.

She blinked. “Why are you here?” She asked quietly.

“I thought I’d lost you.” He replied as he started to get up.

“I’m alive.” She said, lifting her hand and gesturing for him to stop. “And I don’t need someone watching over me.” 

Not entirely true, not if Victoria was still out there trying to kill her. But she didn’t want Edward in her room, watching her, hovering. 

He looked pained, and she was guilty for a brief moment. But things had changed, and she was pretty sure this wasn’t what she wanted, not anymore. 

Belle turned her back on him and laid back down, closing her eyes, trying desperately to get back whatever fleeting images she’d had dreamt of. She heard the window open, and then slide closed, but she could still feel eyes on her like he was merely sitting in the tree outside her window. 

~*~

It was a new Bella who climbed into her truck the next morning to head to school. A still slightly jet-lagged Bella, but a new one nonetheless. She promised Charlie she would be home by four, as agreed, but couldn’t see a reason why she would be delayed aside from the fact that she might drive out to the reservation to talk to Jacob. 

She hummed to herself as she listened to the radio, and was grateful the weather was just warm enough that icy conditions wouldn’t be an issue as it still sometimes could be in late March.

Bella pulled into a parking space, grabbed her bag, and got out of the truck. She was about to cross the parking lot when she stopped quite suddenly (and stumbling a little) at seeing Alice, Jasper, and Edward standing around Edward’s car. 

“They’re back,” Angela said as she came up beside Bella who twisted to see her friend looking nervously between the Cullens and her. Biting her lip, Angela asked, “Did you know?”

Bella blinked. “I knew Alice was around, I’d seen her before I went to a school interview. I didn’t realize they were coming back.” She confessed. 

Angela studied her. “And how are we feeling about this?” She asked cautiously, looking back to the Cullens as Bella did.

Edward was staring at her, smiling warmly, fondly, clearly waiting for her to smile back and walk straight into his arms.

“Annoyed,” She confessed, deciding that she was going to march on as if nothing happened, as if they hadn’t come back, as if she hadn’t stupidly put her entire self-worth into a relationship. Angela was by her side the whole time.

“Bella,” Edward said as she approached.

She nodded at him. “Your back,” She commented without stopping, and perhaps got a bit too much satisfaction out of his confusion.

The bell rang, and she went to English, taking a spot between Angela and Jessica, ignoring Edward who slipped in behind her as best she could.

~*~

It was exhausting pretending Edward wasn’t always right there, hovering just at the edge of her social bubble. Watching, trying to get a moment alone with her. 

The last class of the day ended, and using the advantage of the Cullens not wanting to expose themselves with their speed, Bella darted out of the classroom just before the other students would swarm and make it difficult to move, giving herself an advantage. 

Through the dragging end of English, and all her way across the parking lot to her truck, Bella thought of all the ways she could begin to apologize to Jacob, tell him of her revelations, but also explain how she still wouldn’t be anything more than a friend to him.

She might have realized she loved him, but that didn’t change the fact that by the end of the summer she would be a vampire.

Bella climbed into her truck, tossed her bag on the seat, and turned the key in the ignition, and promptly got nothing for her effort. Frowning, she tried again, checking the dash and looking for some sort of sign as to what happened.

There was a tap on her window, startling her, and she turned to see who it was. 

She wished she could say it surprised her to see Edward. She wished the sight of him didn’t make dread sit in her stomach as she opened the door and began to climb out.

“I can give you a lift home.” He said as she got out of the car. “Jasper and Alice-”

“It’s fine, I wasn’t going home,” Bella said over her shoulder as she spotted Angela and Eric coming out of the school. 

“I know,” Edward said, causing her to stop dead, missing her chance to catch up to her friends. She glared at Edward, then silently cursed Alice for telling him her decision. She immediately retracted it, even in her own mind, because it wasn’t like Alice was always able to hide the things she sees quick enough to keep it from Edward. 

When she continued to glare at him, Edward added lamely, “The wolves have no control-”

Bella reached into her pocket, fumbling her grip before finally getting her phone out and dialing the house. It rang a couple of times while she fumed, holding Edward’s unblinking gaze.

“Yello,” Charlie greeted.

“Hey, truck’s dead. Can you come get me?”

“Your truck’s dead?” Charlie repeated.

“Yeah, probably just some battery trouble or something.” She replied as normally as she could. 

“Alright. You’re still at the school?” He asked suspiciously.

“Yeah,” Bella replied. 

“Okay, be there in a bit.” Charlie hung up, and Bella marched back to the truck.

“I won’t put the battery back in before he gets here.” Edward said as he followed her.

“I’ll get it towed, then.” She said as she threw the door open. “You can put it back before the mechanic looks at it.”

“Bella-”

“Edward!” She snapped back, cutting him off. At his hurt look, she faltered. “Look, you left.”

“I did,” He repeated with a nod.

“So you don’t get a say in my life anymore. Who I see, what I do.”

_ You shouldn’t have had one before _ , she thought to herself but decided to keep that bit quiet for now. 

Edward nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry.” He said. “I want you happy, but alive is more important.”

“I survived months with Jacob and the other wolves.” She told him flatly as she put one foot inside the truck. “I know what they’re capable of, I’ve been around Jake and the others when they get angry, I’ve  _ seen  _ what could happen. I trust them.”

“You shouldn’t,” Edward said, when Bella merely shook her head he sighed. “I’m sorry,” He said after a moment. “Truly. I’ll understand if you’re too angry for me to come to your room tonight. Just… close the window.” He said, stepping away and letting Bella climb in the truck. She slammed the door pointedly, closed her eyes, and leaned back in the seat. 

After a few seconds, she felt the vehicle shift, the creak of metal, and when she opened her eyes she found the hood open. So, he at least put the battery back in after all. He’d probably waited just long enough that Charlie would be on his way, and calling him back to say the truck had suddenly started working would pose more questions than she’d like. Closing her eyes again, Bella hadn’t been aware of how much time passed when there was another knock on her window.

When she opened her eyes, Charlie flashed her a grin, his mustache twitching with it, and he backed up for her to climb out.

“Surprised you didn’t get a ride with him,” He said, and Bella glanced over to see Edward was sitting in his car, watching them.

“Didn’t want to,” She said as she got into the cruiser with Charlie. 

He looked at her in surprise, pleased, but was a smart enough man not to press the issue.

“We’ll grab a new battery, and I’ll give you a lift in the morning.” He said as they pulled away.

“Great,” She said, knowing that if she ever completely decided to see Jacob again, then no amount of new batteries would get her truck to run.

~*~

_ Bella [3:39pm]: Jake, can you call? _

_ Bella[4:07pm]: I’d have gone over, but I’m grounded. _

_ Bella[6:32pm]: I get that you need space. Believe me. But, text back.  _

_ Or call.  _

_ Something _

Bella sighed, leaning back against her pillows, glancing at the closed, locked, and curtain covered window of her bedroom. Not because she was wavering in her decision to let Edward in, but more or less wondering if there was a way to sneak out.

Doubtful, as for one, she’d likely fall to the ground and break her arm, leg, or even her neck if she attempted to escape through the second-story window. For another, Charlie would notice, and somehow despite her earlier attitude toward Edward, she doubted he’d believe her if she said she had been trying to see Jacob. Mostly because she was pretty sure he’d give her the all-clear to do so, and also because her truck was currently sitting in the school parking lot. She’d have to walk to the reservation, which would be utterly ridiculous of her to do in the first place.

And even if she did manage to sneak out and start her walk to see Jacob, she’d have decided to do so. And if Edward wasn’t just outside the house, watching her window, hoping for an invitation, then Alice would likely have seen her make the decision, and he would likely be near enough to her to see it in her thoughts and then coming storming after Bella.

On one hand, she knew she should have a discussion with Edward. She was not his, she didn’t even feel the inclination to  _ be  _ his anymore. The clarity Bella earned racing across a courtyard had erased all that from her mind, perhaps even her heart, maybe even her soul. But on the other hand, Edward had left her. He’d already ended their relationship, and at no point did she say she wanted him back. He’d kissed her, he’d held her, and all she wanted to do was stop him from killing himself and hurting his family.

Her mind drifted to Aro and the Volturi.

Would they really have put him to death because he got caught in the intense sunlight? She’d never considered why that would be an issue, given that she was pretty sure a vampire wasn’t able to go out into the sun at all before she’d been brought into their world. It seemed a weak excuse, given that their own had ventured outside to retrieve Edward in the first place. What would have happened if Edward fought back, thrust the guards out in the sunlight?

No, she doubted the Volturi would really put Edward to death over something as simple as that. They, or at least Aro, seemed to have a bit of benevolence to their rule. There would have been another reason, or maybe Edward had planned to do more than merely step out into the light without a shirt.

Shaking her head, Bella cleared her mind, deciding there was no sense wondering about it. Edward, if asked, would probably say it’s because the Volturi are, as he’d said, refined killers. But having met them, Bella couldn’t be entirely certain that was true.

And either way, until she was one of them, she likely wouldn’t get her answers.

~AB~

The annoying part of leaving Italy for any great distance is that there were preparations to be made. One could go to a neighboring country, run there by foot, and be there by sunrise, just in time to make their way to a safe house should the sun be particularly bright during the day. Anywhere further, and their jet had to be made ready. 

Aro had done his best to keep up with modern law and technology. After all, one did not live for over two millennia without learning about the possible dangers one might encounter, of the ways a human would live. Plus, there were many conveniences to some of these advancements. Like, for instance, making a phone call to arrange a place in Seattle Washington for the Volturi guard to stay at during their investigation of the newborns. For making sure when they arrived at the airport in Florence late in the evening to board their jet, that there would be nothing to hinder or delay them. 

Three hours for a flight plan to be submitted, but nearly three weeks for suitable shelter to be found and secured. Aggravating, but with the way of the world since the turn of the century, somewhat understandable. Still, they should have already had something prearranged near such a large, independent coven. An oversight that won’t be overlooked in the future. 

He imagined that Isabella would want to return to her home country from time to time. He imagined her walking with him along a waterfront somewhere, marveling at the changes as he’d so often done through the years. 

He could imagine her smile, though he doubted he got it just right in his mind. There was what he’d seen in person, that amused sort when he had tried to see all of her thoughts. There was the one in Alice Cullen’s vision that was placid and polite. In Edward’s, he’d seen her happy, of course, but in a sort of subdued way that Aro couldn’t really comprehend the reasoning behind. The thoughts behind it were fear-based, and shy, but Aro didn’t think Isabella was either of those things.

Edward. The young vampire posed a bit of a problem for Aro’s imagining. If he truly believed Isabella to be his mate, he won’t let her walk away from him easily, let alone into the arms of someone he’d seen as ruthless and evil. It may be centuries before either of them realize the truth of their relationship, centuries before Aro could claim his mate for himself. He would wait if needed. As one did not live as long as he without keeping up with the advancing world, one also didn’t rule as long as he had without knowing when to use his power and when to not. 

But, of course, it didn’t hurt to increase his odds at winning Isabella’s affections before her change, or even shortly after. And Seattle being not terribly far from this Forks where she lived meant he could, in theory, pay her a visit.

Three weeks was enough time to think through the best way to go about this. To make sure he was not as overbearing as young Edward, but still be within her reach should her instincts come to the surface. Invite her to speak with him, but only if she wanted to.

He’d waited this long. He could continue to as long as she needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter, mostly because I know when I stumbled upon the pairing, there wasn't a lot to read with it, and I sorta thought it wasn't followed overly close. I'm glad it is, and I'm glad you all welcomed me to write for it.  
> The concept I have in mind is a loose rewrite of Eclipse, and something more beyond that has absolutely nothing to do with Breaking Dawn.  
> It's been a long time since I've read the books, so my information comes mostly from the movies, and the wiki on Fandom. That said, I've noticed a few inconsistences with some of the powers, plots, timelines, etc, so I'll try my best to make sense of them while sticking to canon. I hope you'll forgive me if I don't follow it quite to the letter, though I know many people have taken what they wanted and tossed out the rest before me.  
> I don't know how often I will update, but I will try and keep them as regularly as I can, aiming for at least once a week.  
> Thank you again for reading. Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been two weeks of calls and texts going unanswered from Jacob when Bella arrived home from school to find him waiting for her on the front step. It had already been a good day, the sun was out, it was relatively warm for the time of year, and she didn’t have an ever-persistent shadow hovering throughout the day.

She stared at him through the windshield of the truck before she broke out into a huge smile. He only gave her a small one, which was understandable, really, given how they left things. She fumbled for the handle of the door and finally got it open, then began to dart toward him as he stood up on the step.

He met her partway, still cautious, but when Bella made to jump toward him, he opened his arms willingly to her.

“I’ve been calling you!” She said against his shoulder, the sheer joy at having him around again making her face ache.

“Couldn’t drop by?”

“Still grounded.” She said as she pulled back. “I’m sorry. Really, about… Alice and running off.” She stepped back, glancing past him at the house. Charlie wasn’t home, the cruiser wasn’t in front of the house, but she had a feeling he would be home soon. Bella doubted he would mind finding Jake in the house. “Do you wanna come in? Talk there.”

Jake hesitated, “I can smell them all over the place in there.” He said.

“We can stay out here if it's better,” She said, gesturing to the house. Jacob still hesitated before nodding, joining her on the steps.

She barely let a moment of silence pass before she said, “I really am sorry, Jake.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Look, I shouldn’t’ve… I know I hurt you. I shouldn’t have done that. I really don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Do you still… are you two…?” Jacob asked.

“No,” Bella said softly, shaking her head as she bowed it. “But Jake, listen… I’m… going away at the end of the summer.”

Jacob tensed. “There’s a key point in the treaty,” He said as smoothly as possible. “If any of the Cullens bite a human, the truce is over.”

“Alright,” Bella said, blinking, glancing up at him. “That’s… it’s just here, though, right?”

He looked at her, then, taking in her face. He shook his head. “You’re not gonna be one of them.” He said with vehemence, certain in his assertion. 

“And if it’s a difference between dead or alive?”

“I’d rather you dead!” Jacob said firmly.

“Thanks,” She said sarcastically. 

“I’m serious.” 

“Fine,” She said, getting up from the step, crushing the backs of her legs as she turned to the house. 

Jacob grabbed her wrist. “Where are you going?” Has asked through gritted teeth.

“Inside. No sense in talking with you since-”

“You know what we’ll do to you.” He reminded her and Bella ripped her hand away.

“I don’t have a choice!” She snapped back, nearly admitting that even if she had she knew what she wanted regardless.

It was on the tip of her tongue when Jacob was suddenly on his feet, but facing away from her. 

“Get your hands off her.” Edward’s belated threat came as he was suddenly standing not ten feet away from the house.

“You can’t change her,” Jacob growled.

“Stop!” Bella shouted before they could start getting into a metaphorical, supernatural pissing match with one another. “Both of you. Neither of you gets a say in how I live my life. Who I talk to, where I go, who I see, what I do with it!” She snapped, hearing a car door shut but not taking her eyes off her best friend or her ex. When both seemed to deflate, at least a bit, Bella pinched her nose before sighing. “Look, I want… Jake, you are my _best_ friend. I have so much I wanted to talk to you about, but I need you more open-minded. I need you willing to listen. And Edward,” She met those golden eyes, looking pleadingly back at her. “I want to be friends… again, I guess. I want… to also talk to you about things, but I don’t want to feel smothered.”

“Everything okay, Bells?” Charlie asked, startling her. Right, the car door. He’d come home from the station like she expected him to.

Charlie eyed the vampire and the werewolf suspiciously, and Bella would have laughed at the absurdity that Charlie thought this nothing more than a spat among teenagers in the middle of a love triangle.

“Yeah, I was just telling them both to go home.” She said. 

When no one moved, Charlie looked stonily at Edward. “You heard her.” He said firmly, and Edward nodded.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” He said, hopeful yet certain. He turned and headed down the driveway at a normal human pace, but as Bella had no idea how he got there, she assumed he’d probably sprint into a run as soon as he was out of sight.

“You, too, Jake,” Charlie said, more genial this time, and Jacob nodded sadly. He didn’t say anything as he left, but he did look back at Bella a few times before turning in the opposite direction Edward had. Probably to hide and transform, then spring through the woods.

When they were gone, Charlie grinned at Bella. “I’m liking this whole ‘telling Edward to leave’ thing you’re doing.”

“It’s only temporary.” She said with a sigh, heading into the house with her dad. “I just… I want… to be friends with him. I want to be friends with them both.” She said before heading to the kitchen to see what she could make for dinner, hoping at least that it would take her mind off things for a while.

“Being friends with someone you used to date can be… hard,” Charlie said, shifting about uncomfortably as he stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “Just… don’t feel you got to to be friends with his sister. Alice, right?”

“Yeah,” Bella nodded.

Alice had been keeping her distance, something Bella noticed but hadn’t thought too much on. Not with the way that Edward did the opposite.

Charlie didn’t stay long in the doorway, eventually going off to get changed out of his uniform and watch something on TV while he waited for dinner.

~AB~

They were reckless, but so far, their numbers seemed maintainable. He’d seen much larger armies in the eighteen-hundreds.

Aro heard one of them, a man who was probably in his twenties when he was turned, shouting about them keeping a low profile. Well, whoever created them, him, had at least instilled that much. 

“Should we end them?” Jane asked, a light inquisitive tone to her voice.

Aro narrowed his eyes, watching the newborns, their apparent leader, or at least ringmaster. They’d drawn too much attention, and others would start questioning the effectiveness of the Volturi. Aro pressed his tongue to his teeth, the tip pushing at his upper lip. Caius would want the bloodshed, so to speak. He would want them all burned or brought to their side. Marcus would ask a reminder to be sent, that the behavior would not be tolerated. They were, after all, newborns. They’d all been slaves to the bloodlust, some to a greater degree than others.

“No,” Aro decided. “Not yet. We can only assume their purpose, but that assumption is difficult to assign reason to.” He glanced about. “I don’t see the one young Edward had angered, nor the companion she had remaining.”

“What will you have us do?” Felix asked.

Aro tilted his head. “Give them a warning.” He said, turning his head slightly toward his guard without taking his eyes off the scene as the vampire in control managed to reign in the younger, less controlled ones. “We are watching, but their hunts can not be this conspicuous. If they continue to draw attention, they will be ended.”

“And if they _are_ here for the purpose we believe?”

Aro tapped a finger against his leg. “Then I will summon you once more.”

“Master?” Jane asked, whipping her head up to look at him.

“I will remain,” Aro said simply. When he could feel the guard continuing to watch him, he added, “Carlisle is an old friend, a member of his clan recently came to Volterra to wish for death. I want to make sure young Edward has not had further thoughts of risking exposure.”

“And the human?” Alec asked a touch too eagerly.

“Isabella is not considered a liability.” He replied plainly. Turning to face the guard, he looked to Felix. “I am tasking you with delivering the message.” He looked to Jane. “Ensure it’s made clear what will be at stake if they do not learn control.” He then glanced at each of them. “I will have a flight plan arranged for your return trip in no more than four hours. You will return to Volterra.”

They all bowed their head, and Aro took off. He had other preparations to make as well, for a longer stay, free of the guards.

~AB~

_Be careful what you wish for_.

The old adage struck a particularly strong cord in Bella the day after the whole Jacob and Edward thing in her front yard. Because saying simply she wanted to be Edward’s friend had seemed to allow herself to have a decision, and that suddenly meant he came out of the shadows, and spent his time at her side but maintaining just enough distance that it could be deemed friendly. He even went so far as to sit between Jessica and Eric on a couple of occasions when he would join them for lunch.

It was early April, graduation just under two months away, and it turned out Jessica was nominated for valedictorian. Bella would have thought Angela a better fit but was simply pleased enough not to have had her name put on the ballot.

As it stood, Jessica, easily being one of the most popular people in school, was more than likely that she would get the votes. Which meant she had immediately begun to work on her speech, wanting the time before the stress of exams and other things to perfect it.

Erik and Mike weren’t helping. If anything, they were antagonizing her, suggesting the worst possible or cliche bits for her to include.

“Ya gotta embrace the cliches, Jess,” Mike said after dodging the rejected speech she’d thrown at him. 

“They’re the bread and butter of all valedictorians.”

“It’s because they usually don’t think them up two months in advance.” Bella pointed out with a smirk, before turning to Jessica. “You’ll do fine. Just… talk about the future or something.”

“Also a bit cliche, but yeah, alright.” She said with an eye roll. “I want to be great.”

“Epic,” Angela supplied.

“I want it to change lives.” Jessica countered. “I want people to remember it when they head off to wherever they’re going.” She glanced at Bella. “Where are you going, anyway?”

“Alaska,” Edward said without thought, automatic. “We’re going to the University of Alaska together.

“Actually, I might go to Italy.” Bella corrected, making Edward forget to make human-like movements. 

Jessica’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline.

“Wait, is that where the interview was for?” Angela asked with a grin. “That really last minute one you told me about.”

“Yeah,” Bella nodded, a nervous, quiet chuckle escaping her as she ran the heel of her hand down her leg and avoided Edward’s staring. “I mean, it’s not official yet, but I’m sure-”

“You don’t want to go to Italy.” Edward interrupted, Eric and Mike cringing back and subtly shifting away from him.

Bella met his eye. “I might, actually.”

“Alaska-”

“Is cold. And Doesn’t offer me as much as Italy.”

“It’s far from home, and way more dangerous.” 

“Actually, Italy is pretty safe,” Angela interjected, and Jessica grinned.

“Not to mention all the hot guys.” She nudged Bella’s arm. “Good for you. I say you should.”

Edward looked as though he was about to get up and leave, or say something else, when Alice and Jasper floated over, sitting in the empty spaces beside him.

That, at least, was the one good thing to come out of the whole “decision” to be friends with Edward. Alice was around again, and while Edward still seemed to take up any free time Bella seemed to have, Alice was now talking with her again. Texting, emailing, reassuring that she would be there for Bella whatever she needed.

“I’ve decided to throw a party,” Alice announced to the table as she sat down.

“After all, how many times we gonna graduate high school?” Jasper said off-handed, smiling to himself.

Bella blinked, realizing the very real possibility that if the Cullens turned her - even in Alaska - it would likely be expected that she would stay with them. And she would have to go to High School over and over for the rest of her existence.

“A party?” Angela questioned, only half pulling Bella from her thoughts. “At your place?”

“I’ve never seen your house,” Jessica said quietly.

“No one’s ever seen their house.” Eric corrected.

“I have,” Bella pointed out. “It’s big, lots of windows. Great view. You want to throw a party?” Bella asked, leaning forward on the table toward Alice.

“It’ll be fun,” Alice assured.

“Yeah, that’s what you said the last time,” Bella murmured as Alice’s eyes suddenly glazed over.

“Well, cool. That’s very… normal of you.” Mike started to say.

“Which makes it weird,” Bella said, hoping to distract the humans at the table from noting Alice’s sudden vacant expression. 

Mike took the bait, “Is there, like, a dress code to enter the house?” He asked Bella.

“Nah, I doubt it. Unless Alice goes with a theme or something.”

“She will.” Edward offered, and Bella was oddly grateful to see him helping Alice and her. He didn’t look at anyone while he spoke, but he was at least moving again. “Probably something like starry night. She’ll think it over.”

Alice blinked suddenly, then smiled. 

Bella narrowed her eyes, realizing that Alice had a vision.

For one very brief moment, she hoped it had something to do with-

But that was utterly ridiculous.

~*~

When at the end of the day, Bella’s truck wouldn’t start, she knew exactly who to blame. Therefore, she wasn’t at all surprised to see Edward standing in the empty parking space beside her truck, a bit guilty at least but still not guilty enough. She got out of her truck with a sigh. 

“I hadn’t decided on anything.” She said, recalling Alice’s vision from earlier.

“I know,” Edward acknowledged. “But I had hoped to talk to you, and since you’ve had your window firmly closed for a few weeks now, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to in time.”

A spark of anticipation ignited in Bella, though she couldn’t say for sure why. “In time for what?”

“Just, let me give you a ride. I’ll explain on the way.”

“I wasn’t going home, though.” She said. “I was going to meet Charlie at the station. We’re heading out to dinner tonight.”

“Well, this will make it easier than following him in your truck, or needing to go back to the station for it.” He reasoned with a grin, as though he’d told a joke that was only ever meant to be amusing, and certainly thought it was himself.

Bella considered saying no, a refusal simply because he messed with the truck. But she had told him she wanted to be friends, which was true, and there was the fact that he might have some news about Victoria, the Volturi….

She gestured toward Edward’s car, and they moved together. He darted ahead at the last moment, just fast enough to outmaneuver her but not even a fraction of the speed she knew he could go. He opened his passenger side door for her, and Bella hesitated before getting in. She glanced up and noticed Jessica standing with Angela, Mike, and Eric at the doors of the school, rolling her eyes and gesturing in Bella’s direction as she went on what appeared to be a rant.

 _Fantastic,_ she thought as Edward got in the car. _They all think we’re back together again._

But was it really such a big deal if they did? In just under two months, they’ll all go their separate ways, and by September she’ll never speak to any of them again. Then she looked to Edward, who Bella didn’t doubt could hear what was being said despite the distance and the car, or at least had heard the start of it. He looked smug like he’d won something.

“Can we go?” Bella asked. “I don’t want to be late.”

Edward started the car and began to head to the station.

After a few minutes of silence, Bella asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Edward didn’t reply right away.

“The airline ticket,” He said after the silence had gone on uncomfortably long. “You might wanna use it this weekend.”

“No,” Bella said flatly, clearly not the answer Edward was expecting.

“No?” He replied.

“No.” She repeated. “There’s a test on Tuesday, and it’s a bit short notice.”

Edward stared out the window for a long time. “It might be the last chance to see you before you graduate.” He said in a meaningful way, turning away from the road to look at her pointedly. 

She laughed softly. “I have until the end of the summer.” She replied. “I’ll go see her after graduation, it’ll be better that way, I can see her longer. Get a proper goodbye in.” 

“You can’t be so nonchalant about it.” Edward lamented. “It’s your soul you’re giving up, Your human life.”

“I don’t believe I’d be giving up my soul.” She rebutted. “And I don’t feel comfortable in a human life.”

“You’ve no idea what you’re saying.” He shook his head.

“And you’ve no idea what I’m thinking.” She countered.

“No. You’re right, I don’t.” Edward agreed and they fell silent again, Bella looking out the window and Edward driving with his eyes forward as they got to the station.

“Thanks for the lift,” Bella said as she scrambled out of the car, tossing her bag on her shoulder.

“Bella, wait,” Edward called, and despite her better judgment, Bella listened. She turned, looking expectantly at him.

Edward squirmed uncomfortably, then with a huff said. “You’re right. It’s a bit soon to go off to see your mom. I was going to suggest using the companion ticket, going there with you. I wanted to work to… make this better. Between us. But I see that wasn’t the way to go.”

Bella nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the station. “It wasn’t.” She nodded.

“Maybe we can go back to where this started?” He suggested.

“The Bio lab?” She asked, arching a brow and smirking.

Edward gave a self-deprecating chuckle, bowing his head as he smiled. “I was thinking Port Angeles. We could watch a movie together? Go for a walk or something? Talk afterward?”

Bella shifted her jaw from side to side as she considered it. It couldn’t really hurt, the two of them going out together. A movie sounded sort of date-like, but it wasn’t like it had to be one. 

“Yeah.” She said. “I guess. Maybe we can see if some of the others want to come, too?” She suggested as she backed up toward the station.

“Maybe,” Edward said in such a way that he wasn’t going to ask anyone else anything.

Bella nodded, waved, and headed inside to meet Charlie.

~AB~

He didn’t know where he was going, but Aro was going there by instinct. 

He’d left Seattle and headed North, first. Best to hunt as far from the location of the newborns as possible. And once his thirst was quenched, he’d bought a car and began to drive back in the direction he’d initially ran from, hoping to venture to this Forks where the Cullens were. He looked at the maps but hadn’t memorized them. Instead, he decided to play it by feel, using the bond he had with Isabella in hopes that it would bring him there. It wasn’t as strong as if she’d been changed, but he could sense when he was getting closer to her.

The only time he questioned if he maybe should have consulted a map instead of leaving his navigating to something in the depths of his soul was when he found himself pulling into a city called Port Angeles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for following along with this story. I expect I will have another update ready in about a week.  
> Until then


	4. Chapter 4

She suspected that there was another motive to Edward’s bringing her out of town rather quickly. He barely let her get home before he was in the driveway, and she barely managed to grab the few things she’d thought she’d need before he was at the door talking to Charlie, promising him not to have her home too late.

He drove slow to their destination. Or, at least, normal human speed. Somehow they missed the earlier showing, something Bella knew was on purpose as according to the marquee, they would have been on time for every single feature listed if he had gone his normal speed. So they’d gone for a walk, but he asked her fairly mundane things when he attempted to talk to her at all. Things like what had she thought of the reading for English? Was she prepared for her Biology exam? Did she actually apply to colleges, and had any offered her a spot. Would she go to them, anyway? 

That last one was so hopeful, and for a moment, Bella had admitted to applying to a few, but wasn’t sure if she had ever really wanted to leave Forks. Edward seemed torn by that and changed the topic to Charlie, how he was getting on after the passing of his friend, and so on.

And he never let her go far from his side. A shop would catch her eye, and Edward would follow her in, hover just outside her personal space. She thought to stop for a quick bite, and he kept his eyes trained on her as she got her food from the cart. 

She recalled that it wasn’t all that long ago that she loved that. Loved having his eyes on her in all their intensity. Having him orbit him, moving as she did. Now it was unnerving.

Even in the theater, if she so much shifted her leg he would watch her, looking ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. 

Bella hardly paid attention to the movie, she couldn’t concentrate while feeling her every breath was counted. Really, she should simply give up going to the theater as something to do, given her last few experiences and this one adding to the count.

She had to get away, even for a few moments, and there was only one place in the building Edward wouldn’t likely dare to go.

Bella abruptly got up from her seat and made for the aisle, and of course, he followed her. At the back of the theater, where she hoped no one would notice, she quietly hissed. “I’m going to the washroom. I don’t need you following me, and I don’t need you waiting outside the door.”

“But what-”

“No!” Bella replied firmly. “It’s weird. Just, go back. Wait for me.” She insisted, then continued to the door and pushed it open. 

The light of the lobby was momentarily blinding, but after a moment, Bella’s eyes adjusted. No one was around except the lone concession stand employee, and she breathed a sigh of relief before going to the lady’s room. 

She washed her hands for far longer than twenty-seconds, then wiped them down with the paper towel long after they were thoroughly dry. She knew if she kept putting off her return, Edward would likely come to the lobby and stand outside the door. Probably ask a few dozen questions as to why she was away. With a heavy sigh, Bella tossed away the paper towel and exited the washroom.

She stopped abruptly at the unexpected sight in the lobby.

Aro was not far from the doors, looking up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowed slightly as if straining to listen. Maybe he was, to all the human heartbeats in various rooms, or to the half-dozen different movies currently playing within the walls. 

He was dressed rather more casually than he was in Volterra. Still in shades of black, and he still wasn’t as casual as Edward would be. But under his blazer appeared to be a very expensive sweater, and his pants seemed less finely tailored than what he’d worn in Italy. There were gloves on his hands, probably expensive, and seemed to fit him like a second skin.

“I’ve never been to one of these moving picture shows.” He said thoughtfully. “That’s not to say I’ve never seen one, of course, but I’ve never come to one of the buildings like this, sat in a room with humans.” 

Bella glanced about, but the employee wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She thought maybe she should be concerned, what with the bright red of Aro’s eyes, but she doubted he’d be that conspicuous. 

“I don’t like it much myself.” She said, and his eyes snapped to hers. Bella shrugged. “Sorta cramped.”

“Is it?” He asked, with a slight grin that she found herself returning. “So why come at all?”

She glanced at the theater she was in, the door closed, flashes of the screen flickering through the small window for the ushers to peek through. “I don’t know.”

Aro studied her. “Do you want to stay?” He asked curiously.

“No,” Bella smirked.

“Then perhaps we can take a walk,” Aro suggested, glancing at the doors, gesturing to them.

A voice inside Bella’s head that sounded suspiciously like Edwards warned her against it. That this was a member of the Volturi, that this was a predator, a real killer, and she would be stupid to go with him.

Which is exactly why Bella nodded and easily followed Aro out the doors into the cool night air.

She paused just outside the doors, closing her eyes and taking in the cool night air. The theater was stifling, the atmosphere oppressive, and this felt like freedom in a way she hadn’t expected. She was only mildly surprised to see Aro observing her when she opened her eyes again, but he remained at a distance, a few feet away.

“I still get warm,” She said in way of explanation.

“It’s perfectly human,” He agreed, and she snickered a little at what she guessed was his way of joking. 

Bella joined him at his side, putting her hands in her pockets as he linked his behind his back. She wondered as they began their journey if he minded going at such a slow pace. She doubted he had much reason to act human, to move as they do, and probably darted here and there all the time. But Aro seemed oddly content.

After stealing a few glances up at him, she eventually asked, “Why are you here?”

He smiled slyly. “I had wondered if you would ask.” He looked at her. “There is a situation nearby that the guard and myself are monitoring.”

“Right.” Bella nodded, narrowing her eyes. “But why are you _here?_ Is it… did Edward do something wrong? Or me?”

Aro shook his head. “I sensed another vampire here. I was curious, at first, if it had anything to do with what we are watching in Seattle.” 

That seemed reasonable, though Bella hadn’t realized vampires could sense one another. She had thought Edward had heard the trio that had made up James’ coven, and she remembered the others saying James was a tracker, in that he was very good at hunting through scent. Still, not being one meant she couldn’t be sure, and she wasn’t about to question a vampire king.

“So, what happened? You said at first, what changed?”

He smiled. “I heard you. Your distinct footfall, your heartbeat. Your smell is one I’m familiar with as well, having been in the throne room.” He explained. 

She grinned. “When I first met Edward he held his nose. I kept seeing if maybe I… you know what, never mind. You don’t need to hear that,” She chuckled, only mildly embarrassed as the memory seemed quite amusing to her now. 

“It’s because you smelled divine,” Aro replied. “You are his singer, Isabella. Your blood appeals to him more than anyone else. He thought himself -perhaps not above such notions- but certainly able to overcome them. Able to instantly ignore them. He feared losing control of himself.”

Bella nodded, knowing this from Edward explaining it, but taking in the new insight. “Have you? Ever found your singer, I mean?”

“It happens more than once,” Aro nodded. “The last was a very long time ago, but as I don’t tend to venture too far outside of Volterra on a regular basis, I don’t tend to encounter them often.”

Bella nodded again, then realized that Aro was being very open about the realities of the immortal life she wanted to live.

Stopping suddenly, Bella reached out and touched his arm unthinkingly, earning his attention fully without meaning to. “Could you-” She stopped when she looked into those eyes so openly for a few seconds, the reality of what she’d done and how she acted catching up to her. Withdrawing her hand, she blushed deeply as she looked down at her feet. “Sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

A gentle touch beneath her chin tilted her head up, getting her to meet Aro’s gaze. 

“What is it you want to ask, _mia cara_?” He asked softly.

So many things. Bella had so many questions, many she doubted very much that Edward would have answered, either because he didn’t know or didn’t want her to know. Questions possibly none of the Cullens could answer, not without some hedging the truth or avoiding it altogether.

She’d only just sorted out the first of her questions when she heard, “Bella!” Coming from the direction they’d come from.

For a moment, Aro’s eyes hardened, darkened, his nostrils flared and his lip twitched ever so slightly into a snarl. But he schooled his features before Edward was suddenly beside them, hands-on Bella yanking her away.

“Hey!” She snapped as she was shoved behind him, and kept there with a hand wrapped around her arm.

“Edward.” Aro greeted calmly, and what one might say was politely if they didn’t know any better.

“Get your hands off her,” Edward warned.

“He’s not the one with his hands on me,” Bella said as she ineffectually tried to loosen Edward’s grip.

Edward seemed to realize Bella’s point and promptly let go. She stepped away from him, inching toward Aro without even fully realizing what she was doing.

“The movie was over,” Edward said after everyone literally and figuratively took a breath. “You didn’t come back, and I could smell another vampire around.”

“I was fine,” Bella said firmly. 

Edward glanced at Aro darkly, untrusting.

“If the movie’s over, I should get home,” Bella said after a few seconds. 

“Right,” Edward said wearily. “Or, maybe we could get a bite to eat.”

“I did earlier. And you _don’t_ eat.” Bella retorted. “Plus, I want to get home. I still have a report to work on, and Charlie will be waiting up.”

Edward seemed hesitant.

“Perhaps, since Edward seems reluctant to leave, I might return you home.” Aro offered.

“No,” Edward answered in her place immediately. “I’ll take her home.”

“How would you have brought me home?” Bella asked Aro, far too intrigued not to.

“I thought I would drive you in an automobile.” He replied, and her lip twitched upward as she attempted to keep a straight face.

“An automobile.” She repeated, nodding slowly. 

“Yes,” Aro replied with quiet exasperation, clearly understanding the point Bella was making. “If you would like, I can escort you. Edward can even join us if he’d like.”

“I think Bella’s father would find it odd having someone he doesn’t know bring her back.” Edward pointed out.

“So Aro can bring me most of the way, and you can drive me the rest.” Bella reasoned, wanting to keep the peace, wanting the chance to work up the nerve to ask Aro a few questions.

“I don’t-”

“You want to be friends, yeah?” Bella cut him off. “Think of this as making up for messing with my truck the other day. And for hovering so much.”

Edward grimaced, but then nodded. “I’ll be following close behind.” He warned.

“Of course,” Aro said, and the three of them turned around, heading back in the direction of the movie theater.

Unlike what the Cullens drove, the car Aro went to was fairly nondescript. Black, of course, something that didn’t surprise her in the least. It would blend in anywhere, not draw a single iota of attention, which was probably what a vampire would actually want.

The three of them all went for the passenger side door, and after looking between the two men who seemed to be having a standoff, Bella reached between them and opened the door. Aro held it open, but Edward crowded in the space she had vacated, leaning in.

“If you need me-” He started to say.

“I won’t,” Bella said confidently, looking pointedly between Edward and the door until he got the hint and stepped back, letting Aro close it.

He was in the driver’s seat before she’d even had her seatbelt on, his gloves gone.

He looked at the action with a frown at first, then seemed to realize why she would use the belt and nodded. He started the engine, then glanced in the mirror before taking off.

“I confess I don’t know how to get to where you live, though I’m aware it’s not in this city,” Aro said as they began their journey.

“I’ll direct you,” Bella said, rubbing her hand against her leg.

Aro narrowed his eyes, “Your heartbeat is quickening.”

She glanced at him. “I’m nervous.” She confessed.

“Not scared?” He asked curiously.

She shook her head. “No,” She affirmed. 

“Then why are you nervous?” He asked, turning to her. 

Bella took a deep breath, “I’m nervous you won’t answer my questions.” She confessed. “Or you’ll get tired of them. Annoyed.”

“No,” he said firmly, looking back at the road. 

“Does it bother you? Being in a car with a human?” She asked the question not even close to the first in the long list that she had, but the one that popped out of her mouth.

Aro grinned. “Are you asking if I want to drink your blood, Isabella? If I will soon be overcome with blood lust?” He looked at her again. “No, it does not bother me. I have lived for thousands of years, and there was a time when vampires walked more freely among humans. If being near one inspired thirst every time, we’d have been discovered and destroyed a long time ago.” He replied before looking back at the road, making the first turn Bella mindlessly gave.

As they continued on course, she asked, “How old are you, exactly?”

He laughed, a musical thing that was so unique, so utterly uncontentious, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Exactly? I’ve not a clue. Dates ran differently back then, and one tends to lose track after a few centuries. I believe it’s not quite four thousand years old, but a near thing.”

Bella gaped at him, her mouth partly open as she attempted to wrap her mind around the idea. “So… you’re, like, ancient. You’re practically a dinosaur.”

“There are older vampires than I.” He replied, glancing at a road sign and following it without Bella’s input. 

“How?” She asked. “How is it possible for vampires to be around _that long_ and everyone still thinks you’re a myth?” She began the questions she really wanted to know.

Aro looked at her again, briefly this time, eyes alighting at her inquisitiveness. “We keep hidden,” He explained. “We do not draw attention to ourselves. It’s been the one, most important rule since Caius, Marcus, and I came to power. We enforce that rule with little to no exception.”

“I’m an exception,” Bella nodded.

“You are, but it is because you want to become one of us.” He then reluctantly added, “Had you not said how you felt, that day may have ended differently.”

“It still could have,” Bella acknowledged. “You didn’t have to let us go.”

“No, I did not.” Aro agreed, and Bella wanted to poke at why, but refrained. He continued. “Humans still think us a myth as there aren’t enough of us to draw suspicions. Many vampires go their whole existence without turning a human. Venom is normally withdrawn from the bloodstream as one drinks, remaining only long enough to subdue a human. Rarely does one not drink long enough to prevent a transformation.”

Bella looked down at the crescent-shaped scar, and as she turned her arm, Aro noted it as well. 

She expected him to ask about it, but he continued.

“Some vampires have been known to petrify, becoming statues after one sits too long without moving. It’s my understanding that they don’t even realize it’s happening, one moment they exist, the next they do not.”

“So, it’s like dying of old age.” Bella frowned.

“It’s dying by no longer living.” Aro corrected, and Bella nodded.

There were many other questions she had, and choosing which one she wanted to ask became overwhelming when she thought on it too long. 

The silence must have lingered too long because Aro spoke again. “May I ask you a question, Isabella?”

“Alright.” She agreed.

“Were you and Edward out tonight as part of a courtship?”

“A courtship?” She snickered, “You mean, were we on a date?”

“If that’s the term used, then yes.”

“No.” Bella replied. “At least, I don’t think it was. Not for me, anyway. Not really.” When she glanced at Aro, seeing him trying to read her, she shrugged. “When the Cullens left back in September, he broke up with me.” She replied.

“I recall seeing that in his thoughts.” Aro nodded. “But I also recall his reluctance, his belief it was to protect you, and his desire not to do so.”

“Yeah,” Bella shifted nervously. “But… he left. He broke me, for a while, leaving the way he did. Or, I let him break me, one of the two. But I got my life back together. And, I realized that maybe ….” She shook her head. “When he came back, I didn’t take him back. I didn’t agree to be his girlfriend again. I didn’t agree to a date or anything. But he seems to think I have, or will. He tries to pretend or act like nothing has changed when really… everything has.”

Aro didn’t say anything, and Bella blushed, turning to look out the window, chiding herself. This nearly four thousand-year-old vampire, a king for all intents and purposes, did not want nor need to hear the ramblings of an eighteen-year-old woman and her still teenage love life. She chewed at her nail and began to bounce her knee.

His hand came down, stilling it, getting her to look at him instantly. 

Aro was still looking straight ahead at the road. “Vampires find it more difficult to bend to change than a human.” He said gently. 

Then she looked to the hand on her knee. “Edward said you can read every thought anyone’s ever had with a touch.”

“I can,” he confirmed. “Except for yours.” He added with a smirk.

“That must be hard,” She said. “Never being able to touch anyone without knowing everything about them. How long they took to decide what to eat, what to do. If they liked or hated you if they still feel that way.”

Aro grimaced. “It’s not without difficulties.” He agreed. 

A horn blared behind them, and Bella looked away, at the road signs. “We’re gonna miss-” She said, pointing to the exit, cut off by Aro’s quick maneuvering.

He moved his hand to brace her, keeping Bella from moving too much in her seat. She could already feel where she’d likely have a hand-shaped bruise on her arm.

Once they were corrected, Aro removed his hand and glared in the rearview mirror. 

“Apologies.” He said to Bella after a moment, jaw unclenching slowly. 

“It was my fault.” She said rather quickly. When Aro eyed her curiously, she played it off with a shrug. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Nor was I.” Aro retorted. “Our topic of conversation had me distracted as well.” He rolled his shoulders. “I try not to touch many that I meet with gloves. And most all in our world know of my gift, meaning they will avoid me if possible.”

The smile Bella had was small and involuntary, the way Aro referring to the vampire world as theirs, including her in it, giving her a pleasurable shiver. But then the rest of his words caught up to her and she frowned.

“Is that….” She started to ask but wasn’t sure she should.

“Anything, Isabella.” He reminded her.

She took a deep breath. “Is that how you know when a vampire is truly deserving of punishment?” She dared to ask, glancing at him and noting the surprise in his features. “I mean, is that-”

“Yes,” He replied without hesitation. “Exposure, as I said, is one of the very few things we would not allow. If a vampire is seen, it’s easily determined if it had been an accident, or intentional. Some believe that they can trick me, by thinking very loudly when I first touch them that they hadn’t meant to feed so openly. They hadn’t intentionally drawn attention to themselves. But I hear every thought they’d ever had. I know what they had actually wanted.”

“It’s how you knew Edward’s intentions.” Bella understood. “So you _would_ have killed him if he exposed himself.”

“Yes,” Aro said bluntly, glancing at her. “You don’t seem upset.”

Bella pursed her lips, mulling over how to word her response. “I’m upset that he’d have been killed, I suppose. But I think that’s because his desire for death was because he had thought me dead. And a human wouldn’t know what he was.” She reasoned. “If they’d seen him, they’d have just thought he really liked glitter.”

Aro laughed lightly at that, and Bella grinned with him.

“Perhaps.” He conceded. “But his intentions were clear. If he had decided not to go through with the action, then he would have been free to go but watched quite heavily.”

Bella nodded, and quietly weighed these facts in her mind. It was logical, of course. Edward may have decided not to do it at that moment, perhaps the sun wasn’t as strong as forecasted, or he reconsidered at the last moment. What would have stopped him from deciding to go ahead with exposing himself some other way? 

“You stopped him,” Aro stated.

“Yeah,” Bella said absently. “It’s… Alice saw me decide to-”

“She thought you attempted suicide as well,” Aro said, nodding. “And Edward was informed by another member of the coven. _Una tragedia di incomprensioni._ Romeo and Juliet.” 

Bella groaned. “We were studying that in school before he left.” She grumbled. “He went on about envying Romeo the suicide. Even said he’d have gone to Italy and provoke you if I’d died at the hands of James.”

“Having heard his every thought, I already knew this,” Aro said conversationally. “But to hear your version of it, to hear you say it with such derision.” 

“I was nothing for months after he left,” She confessed. “I went to school and I came home. I barely ate. It took me months and the threat of being sent back to my mother for me to snap even partly out of it. But I didn’t consider… I wouldn’t have done that to Charlie. Or the Cullens.”

Aro seemed to hesitate, looking in the rearview mirror for a very long time before he quietly said. “I had a sister, a very long time ago. She and Marcus were in love, they were… mates.” He glanced at her when he said the last bit, and Bella nodded for him to go on. He waited, watching her, then continued in that quiet tone. “They wanted to leave the Volturi together. Marcus and I founded it together with Didyme, Caius came later. I didn’t believe it would be as well balanced without Marcus, and I … I wanted him to stay.” He looked down at the steering wheel for a long moment. “I had asked a member of my guard to keep him in Volterra by any means necessary.”

“Your sister was killed.” Bella understood.

“Murdered, on my order.” Aro nodded. “I ripped the guard apart for it, burned them to ash, but I have had to live with careless words for all this time. Marcus was too heartbroken to be angry with me, Caius thought it a brilliant idea and praised my firm hand. Sulpicia… she never said, of course, but she had thought me despicable and cold for a long time.”

Bella frowned, “Who’s Sulpicia?”

“My former wife.” He replied easily, and Bella’s eyebrows shot up.

“Former? Like… is she alive?”

“Yes,” Aro replied with narrowed eyes, looking at Bella again.

“So is there, like, vampire divorce? Do vampires even get married? Like for real married? With a ceremony and all that? I mean, I get Rosalie and Emmett doing it, I guess, but is that a thing?”

Aro chuckled again, and Bella wondered if she’d ever get tired of that laugh. If she’d even be able to have a chance to get used to it.

“I changed Sulpicia with the intention of having her become my mate.” He explained, eyes darting about Bella’s face. After a second, he said, “We were fond of one another, but it was never a proper match.” 

“So you let her go.” Bella understood. “Instead of keeping her with you, you let her go.”

“I did.” Aro nodded.

The sign stating their close proximity to Forks came up, and Bella realized she was already out of time. She’d forgotten, of course, that vampires would drive faster than normal, meaning the normal hour-long drive was shorter.

“I just have one more question,” She said, and Aro raised a brow. “Well, one more that I can ask before I have to switch cars.”

“Alright.” Aro nodded.

“Why were you practically whispering before? Can Edward hear us?”

“No,” Aro replied. “At least not clear enough to make out anything. But I’ve no doubt he was trying to read my thoughts the entire trip, and it’s my hopes that speaking low allowed my thoughts to be quieter as well.”

“I’m so glad he can’t read my mind.” She said just as Edward began to honk his horn behind them. Aro pulled over on the curb and was out and around to Bella’s side of the car before she moved her hand to unbuckle her belt.

When the belt unlatched, Aro opened her door for her, angling himself in such a way that Edward wouldn’t be able to get to her without physically moving Aro out of the way. As it was, Edward was hovering just over Aro’s shoulder, glowering at the older vampire’s head.

“Thanks,” Bella said as Aro extended a hand toward her, helping her out of the car. “For humoring me. Answering my questions.”

“You need only ask, Isabella, and I will tell you all you need to know.” He said, placing his hand over hers, holding her gaze.

Bella was struck with the sudden longing to have him kiss her hand, the mere idea leaving her sort of breathless, her lips parting as she gasped quietly. 

He looked at their hands, smiling. “Such a marvel. To feel touch and hear nothing.” 

“We have to go,” Edward stated. “Charlie will wonder.”

Bella wanted to ask if she’d see Aro again, but didn’t. Why would she? He was here for a situation in Seattle, had merely been in Port Angeles for a quick investigation. The Volturi would finish what they came to do, and return to Italy. She supposed she’d see him then when she went to prove she was changed or to be changed, but that would be it.

“Goodnight,” She said instead, giving his firm hand as much of a squeeze as she could before sliding her hand from his grip.

“ _Buonanotte tesoro,_ ” He said in return, and Bella felt a giddy rush despite not knowing what he said. 

Edward took her elbow and guided her back to his car, but Bella couldn’t help but steal another glance at Aro over her shoulder, smirking as he watched them go.

Once she was in the car, Edward back behind the wheel, he sped off.

It took him about thirty seconds before he said, “that was reckless.”

“What exactly?” Bella asked.

“Being in a car with him, alone. Being with him alone, period.” Edward replied tersely.

“Aro won’t hurt me,” Bella replied confidently.

“You’re human. A meal. He doesn’t respect human life, why would you think you’re safe with him?”

“Probably because I was,” Bella replied with a mirthless grin. “Edward, just because he’s a vampire that’s _not_ a ‘vegetarian’,” She started, but Edward shook his head.

“The Volturi don’t care for human life.” He reiterated. “You saw their throne room, I know you did. The drain in the middle of the room? It’s not meant to prevent water damage.”

“Right,” Bella said, nodding. “Because I didn’t realize that. Of course. Or the tourists that went in after us.”

“You’re okay with that?” Edward asked. “You’re okay with dozens of lives senselessly and brutally taken?” He asked as they came up outside the house.

“How many people have you killed, Edward?” Bella demanded as Edward stopped the car, and she fumbled to get the belt undone.

“It’s not the same.” He reasoned, sounding relatively calm considering how he was just a moment before. “I didn’t… I lost control. They don’t lose control, it’s never an accident.” 

She opened the door, stumbling out in her effort to storm out. She slammed the door before starting her march to the door.

“Bella!” Edward called after her. “Bella, please.”

Charlie came out on the front step then, crossing his arms and glaring at Edward as Bella came up the stairs.

“Everything alright, Bells?” He asked without looking at her.

“Yeah,” She said, glancing back at Edward who thankfully kept his distance. “We’re just arguing.” She said before going into the house, Charlie following behind her. She heard him pointedly lock the door and snorted at the idea that that would keep a vampire out. She could sense him hovering as she went to the kitchen, a rarity for Charlie unless he was feeling protective. Sighing, she offered an explanation. “We ran into someone we both know.” She shrugged. “Edward doesn’t like him, or trust him.”

“Do you?” Charlie asked.

Bella shrugged and nodded.

“So what’s the big deal? Does Edward not want you seeing this fella? Like he doesn’t want you to see Jake?”

“Sorta.” Bella shrugged. “Look, can we drop it? I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

“Alright,” Charlie conceded. “But Bella, if Edward’s trying to tell you who you can and can’t see-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Bella assured. “I’m not with Edward anyway.”

“So what was tonight then?” Charlie asked, and Bella frowned. 

“A mistake.” She said, not really having any other answer to give. “Goodnight, dad.” She said as she went upstairs. 

When she went into her room to get her things, she double-checked the window was shut and locked, making sure the curtains were pulled, and then went about her nighttime routine before turning in and getting some sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update was later than expected. Real life has become extremely busy quite suddenly so I'm uncertain when the next part will come up.  
> Apologies for the delay.


	5. Chapter 5

Bella had been surprised to get a call from Angela in the morning, asking if she wanted to go shopping with her in Port Angeles. Worried that Edward would end up hanging about the house, trying to apologize or convince Bella she’d done a stupid thing by going with Aro once more, she jumped at the chance to leave Forks again.

It sunny out, something Bella was both grateful and regretful over. After all, while it ensured Edward wouldn’t suddenly spring out of the shadows, it also meant Aro wouldn’t either.

“So, there’s a reason I wanted to talk to you,” Angela confessed as they walked down the street, iced drinks from a local coffee shop in hand. She had a couple of articles from a clothing store as well, and one from the same books shop Bella found her one and only purchase in.

She looked to Angela, seeing her friend bite her lip nervously. 

“What is it?” She asked, smirking a little, trying to ease Angela into whatever it is she wanted to ask.

“I wanted to see if you were okay.” Angela began cautiously. “I mean, Jess, the guys, we’re all worried about you. You were out of it for so long, when the Cullens left. And, you know, you were coming back to yourself. But now they’re back, and you seem… Edward’s-”

“We’re,” Bella trailed off. “Complicated.” She finished. “I, umm, I realized…. There was a moment where I realized I didn’t love him like I thought I did. And, I’m still sorting out what that means for me. But he’s….”

“A bit possessive?” Angela suggested with a hint of a grin. “Mike said he thought he saw Edward around your truck last week and suddenly it wouldn’t start. Then you went off with him.”

“Yeah, he is.” Bella agreed, thinking of how he tore into her about seeing Aro, being in his presence. She thought, for a moment, about trying to find a way to bring him into the conversation. “We came here last night, and I ran into someone I knew.” She said. “I hung out with them for a bit, and Edward was really…. He kept trying to convince me they were gonna hurt me. I couldn’t get him to see that I knew I was fine.”

“Why would Edward think that?” Angela asked.

“I dunno.” She replied because she couldn’t very well say the truth. “Hey, what do you think of the party Alice is planning to throw?”

Angela took the bait, and they chatted about that for a while before moving on to other things. 

~*~

In contrast, Sunday had rain falling hard and heavy, enough that Charlie stayed home from any outdoor endeavors. Bella spent it reading, studying, feeling watched as her cell phone frequently chimed. After seeing it was Edward the first three times, she decided to ignore it, understanding that the eyes she could feel boring into her window were likely his. 

She checked at the end of the night, hours after the chimes ended. All of her messages were from Edward, except one from Angela who wanted to know if she could borrow the book Bella bought when she was done with it.

Monday morning the air was filled with the scent of petrichor, Earthy and wonderful. Bella drove to school and was pleased to find Angela waiting for her before the Cullens had arrived. And even though Edward was soon shadowing Bella’s near every move, it had been a better day than Bella could have asked.

At least until the end of it.

As they were leaving the building, Alice stopped short, her eyes darting about in that familiar, unseeing way that had Jasper nudging her to the side, out of the way of those leaving. Bella waited as well, waving Angela on, ensuring that she would be fine despite Edward’s proximity.

Alice blinked, and Edward grabbed Bella’s arm. “Why don’t we-”

“No,” Bella said, trying to wrench her arm from Edward’s and feeling it bruise a bit before he let go completely. “Whatever she saw,” Bella turned to Alice, “what did you see?”

Alice shook her head. “Not a lot, if I’m honest. Just-”

“Does it have to do with Victoria?”

Alice shook her head.

“Then I’m sure it’s fine, right?”

“Right.” Alice agreed. “Only….”

“Bella,” Angela interrupted, uncertain. “There’s a guy in the parking lot waiting for you.” 

With Angela watching, Edward couldn’t really do much to stop her. Alice and Jasper couldn’t either, and Bella just knew whoever was out in the lot, waiting for her, was someone the Cullens -especially Alice and Edward- didn’t want her to be around. A jolt of excitement shot through her vein, the hope of who she would see outside something she couldn’t properly suppress for anything.

She was only very mildly disappointed to see Jacob there.

Tall and imposing, he stood spread leg and arms crossed in front of his bike. Despite being younger than most of the people still milling about, most of the students gave him a wide berth.

Bella adjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder, then strode over to him.

“Hey,” She said simply to start, the sudden awareness that she hadn’t realized she’d given up on seeing Jacob again nearly taking her breath away. 

“Hi,” He said. “I went by your place Friday night, Charlie said you were outta town.”

Bella frowned. “Yeah, for a movie.”

Jacob nodded slowly, glancing over her shoulder. He stared long enough that she curiously followed his gaze, seeing the Cullens much closer than she had anticipated. 

“I came here to warn you,” Jacob said, and Bella turned back to him only to find he was still gazing steadfastly at the Cullens. “If your kind come on our land again-”

“Wait, what?” Bella asked, inching toward Jacob and turning to face the trio of vampires. 

“You didn’t tell her?” Jacob asked incredulously, and Alice gave Edward a meaningful glance that he didn’t see but probably heard every thought behind. 

“Just leave it alone, Jacob.” Edward half-pleaded. 

“No,” Bella said firmly, before turning to meet Jacob’s eye. “What wasn’t I told?”

“It wasn’t anything,” Edward said, but Bella could see the way Jacob was holding back an eye-roll. Alice hissed a warning tone, but Edward continued. “Emmet and Paul had a misunderstanding.”

Jacob snorted. “Did you lie to get her out of town, too?” He asked Edward, and Bella’s eyes went wide.

“Why did you want me out of town, Edward?” Bella asked.

“The red-head,” Jacob answered for him. 

Understanding was instant, and Bella had to take a deep breath before she turned to Edward. “So instead of saying that Alice had a vision, that Victoria was going to be around, you dragged me out of town, you… what? Stalked outside my house? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He waffled, unsurprisingly, and glanced at Alice for assistance.

She shook her head before turning to Bella. “He thought it would be better if you didn’t know, so you wouldn’t worry. We were hoping to get her, but we were too close to the treaty lines.”

“But why….”

“Because it was safer.” Edward offered weakly. “We knew she was going to strike sometime during the weekend. We were just lucky it was only Friday night. If you’d gone to Florida-”

“No, just… no.” Bella shook her head and stalked toward her truck. She opened the door and tossed her bag inside, then stood still, trying to figure out what she needed. 

Glancing through the window, she thought she saw something, a shadow in the trees. 

“Bella,” Jacob called, and she looked at him over her shoulder. He was already getting on his bike, helmet in his hands. “I need to head back.”

“Call me.” She replied, “And thanks.” She got in the truck as Jacob put on his helmet, shutting the door starting the engine. As she pulled out of the lot, she noted Alice and Edward seeming to have a heavy discussion, Jasper seeming uncertain whose side to take, though he would likely side with his mate.

It didn’t matter, and once Bella was on the road, heading away from school, she put it mostly out of her mind. She turned up the radio, enjoying the song that happened to be playing, smiling to herself at the road being clear of other drivers.

It shouldn’t have surprised her, then, to turn the corner and have to slam on the breaks due to someone standing in the middle of it. 

The tires squealed to a stop, mercifully before she was any closer to the figure in black standing calmly fifteen feet away. After a moment collecting herself, she realized that the only damage she would have done had she hit him was that to her truck and probably herself. She panted as she stared through the window at Aro who smirked back at her. 

“What the fuck!” She yelled, knowing he could probably hear her, and gesturing to where he was and the road around him. Bella was fairly certain he laughed at her, though she wouldn’t have heard it.

With a huff, she gestured to the passenger side, knowing that while there wasn’t traffic on the road now, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be soon. She didn’t want to even think about explaining to anyone why she had stopped her perfectly fine-running truck in the middle of the road, just past a turn, when there would likely be no Aro standing in the road if all that were to occur. 

Bella barely blinked and he was inside, the air in the cab stirring about, moving her hair as he got in and shut the door. He looked at her, amusement still sparkling in his eyes though his smile was barely there.

“Is this a normal thing for you, Isabella? Picking up men from the side of the road?”

“Middle. Middle of the road.” She corrected as she took her foot off the break and kept going. “And no, I don’t normally pick people up, but they don’t normally stand where they could be hit, either.” And then, because Edward had done enough stalking and skulking, she had to ask. “Did I see you? In the trees by the school? Was that you?” She asked, glancing between him and the road enough to see him smile.

“You saw me.” He said, sounding pleased.

“Was I not supposed to?” She asked.

There was a smirk in his voice when he answered. “Well, Edward and Alice didn’t see me, nor had her mate, though he had sensed someone was there, I’m sure. But you looked right at me. I had wondered.” 

Bella huffed, her lips curling upward. “So you’re stalking me?”

“Not really,” He replied smoothly. “I merely asked Carlisle where you would be, and he told me that your school day would be almost over. It’s not a terribly large town, it wasn’t difficult to find it. I had wanted to see you, speak to you again.”

“And the middle of the road thing?”

She glanced over to see him shrug.

“I had been running alongside your vehicle since you left, I saw an opportunity to get your attention.” 

“You got it alright.” 

There was a beat of silence before Aro said, “I’ve displeased you.”

Bella glanced over at him quickly. “No. I mean, sorta, maybe. I dunno.” She huffed again. “Just… I dunno. I suppose it’s better than showing up at the house, trying to explain you to Charlie.”

“Charlie being your father.”

“Yeah.” 

“Yes, that would be something to avoid, I believe.” He said. 

Bella hummed in agreement. She couldn’t imagine what would go through Charlie’s head, having an older Italian man suddenly hanging around her when she would say she was heading off to Italy for school in a few months. What he would say when after four years she didn’t come home. 

“Why are you here, anyway?” She asked after shaking her head, clearing her thoughts. “In Forks, I mean? I thought you said the problem was in Seattle?”

“I’m here for you,” He replied honestly.

She glanced at him. “For me?” She asked, driving past her house purposely, not wanting to cut her time with Aro short. 

“You had a lot of questions the other night.” He replied, frowning, looking over his shoulder in the direction of her house. “I know the Cullens could answer any that you may have in regards to our kind, but I thought I would stay for a bit, allow you the chance to ask someone who you know is in full support of your pending change.” 

It was the Cullens home she was nearing now, their hidden driveway coming up quite soon. She slowed, pulling over to the side of the road, turning in her seat after she had the truck in park and the four ways on.

“You’re staying just to answer my questions?” She asked skeptically.

“And I’m here to ensure the situation in Seattle doesn’t get out of hand as well. It’s easy enough to monitor, we were already keeping a close eye on it from Volterra. Here, should it need immediate addressing, I can be there in a near-instant. And while I may not have the guards, I do have the Cullens. It would be in their best interest, I would think, to ensure the newborns over there won’t cause them problems here.”

“Newborns?” Bella furrowed her brow. “Like, vampire newborns?”

“Indeed.” Aro acknowledged. “Someone is creating a coven, though they aren’t being careful about it. Or they weren’t. They’ll have been warned.”

Bella nodded slowly, some of those questions from before coming to mind. 

She was about to ask when a familiar silver car went speeding by, the tires squealing just shy of turning into the hidden driveway.

“Suppose that was stupid of me.” She sighed, turning away from Aro, taking the car out of park. “Do you mind? He’ll just… probably follow us if I don’t-”

Aro cut her off with a delighted chuckle. “Oh, by all means.” He said with a gesture toward where the Volvo sat.

As Bella changed the four-way to a right turn, Edward’s car began to pull into the driveway. She followed, glancing over at Aro and his wicked grin, wondering what he was thinking. Or, probably more accurately, what she was about to get herself into.

As she stopped and parked outside the house, she found Carlisle and Esme waiting on the front step. Edward was out of the car and standing statue still glaring in what seemed like the politest way he could at Aro through the windshield. 

Like before, Bella barely had the seatbelt off before Aro was at her door, opening it for her, offering a hand to assist her getting out. She held onto that cool, firm hand as Edward looked over his shoulder at Carlisle in surprise.

“You can’t be serious?” He asked his father, and Carlisle nodded.

“Serious about what?” Bella asked, looking from one vampire to another, trying to figure out what was happening.

“I believe Edward has just understood that I’ll be a guest here for some time,” Aro answered in a whisper that everyone would have heard anyway. Something Bella guessed he must have known by the way he grinned.

“You mean _here.”_ She said, pointing to the ground. “As in-”

“You can’t hunt here,” Edward stated firmly. “We have a truce with the Quileute tribe.”

“Carlisle has informed me of your pact with the local werewolves,” Aro replied smoothly. “And as I am a guest I will respect it.”

“Will you?” Edward asked snidely.

“Oh, come now, young Edward. I know you think me terribly barbaric, but I’ll not purposely expose you or cause your coven trouble.” Aro said as he stepped away from Bella, stalking closer to Edward. 

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.” Edward retorted without heat.

“Ah, but you can hear everything,” Aro tapped his temple. “Tell me, do you see my ill intent?”

“You can hide thoughts like you can hide your decision.” Edward countered casually. “I’m sure there are some things I’m not hearing.”

“Edward, Aro is my friend,” Carlisle interjected. “He knows the rules, and he’ll respect them.”

“And you trust him? That he won’t hunt here?” Edward asked Carlisle.

“I do,” Bella said without thinking, drawing an aghast look from Edward. She met Aro’s red eyes, more burgundy than a ruby red, a sign of impending thirst. “You won’t, right?” She asked.

His gaze held hers. “I will not.” He affirmed. “As the leader of the Volturi, I can understand and respect a truce when one is made. Caius would never allow it, he’d have had your heads for it. But I’m not him. We can make enemies of our own kind, why can’t we make allies -if not weary neighbors- with our adversaries?”

“Bella, will you be staying for dinner?” Esme asked, breaking the tension. Aro smirked, glancing at Bella with amusement. 

“No,” She replied, barely able to not grin in return. “I won’t be, thank you. Esme.”

As Carlisle and Esme headed back inside, and Alice moved to pull Edward along as well, Aro turned to Bella and asked, “How does one stay for dinner at the home of a vampire, when one is not dinner themselves?”

“Shut up,” She laughed, “They’ve… cooked for me, in the past.” 

“Yes, I do recall that,” Aro replied. “It was in Edward and Alice’s memories.”

“Right.” Bella nodded. “So, there’s actually very little about me you don’t know.”

Aro took her hand again, staring at it.

“I’m sure there’s actually much about you that remains a mystery.”

~AB~

They remained in front of the Cullens home just the two of them, but Aro knew they were being watched. He knew Edward was hovering near the windows, his gaze boring into Aro’s when it wasn’t locked on Isabella’s form. And he wasn’t alone, because Aro was more than aware of having the eyes of every other Cullen on them both as well, even if to a lesser extent. 

Carlisle hadn’t been exactly fond of the idea of having Aro as a guest. They may have parted without ill-feelings centuries back, but having a leader of the Volturi hovering about was usually not considered a good thing. But Seattle provided a reason, as did Isabella’s pending change. So, after nervously explaining the truce they had with the local werewolves, and what that specifically entailed, Carlisle had given his reluctant blessing.

Trust was fragile, and Carlisle had likely noted the way Aro’s eyes had darkened as they spoke. Not to black, he would never allow himself to get that far, that deep into thirst if it could be helped. But the scent of blood that had wafted through the hospital had made his throat dry and scratchy. Aro would have to hunt, and soon. Go North, find someone well away from Forks and Seattle, and quench it before it could get out of hand.

And here he was with a human, holding her hand, keeping her close. They didn’t know the touch was light, barely there, loose enough that Isabella could pull her hand free and walk away whenever she wanted. They didn’t know that he could never harm her, even if the thirst was so bad he burned with it. 

Isabella looked to that hand now, seeming unsure of whether it should remain in his grasp or not.

“I… I have so many things I want to know.” Isabella said, looking back at him. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start wherever you like,” Aro replied. “You will have my attention as long as you wish.”

She laughed, a little mirthless, and maybe nervous. “I do have to go home eventually.” She reminded him. “Charlie will want me home. With all the disappearances happening….”

“I understand.” Aro acknowledged. “So, start wherever you like. This will certainly not be the last time we see each other.”

Isabella pulled her bottom lip inward with her teeth, brushing her hair back with her free hand. “I guess… well I mean, you’re going to have to hunt, right? How do you…. I mean, do you just pick someone random, or…?”

Aro stared at her a long moment, knowing full well there was at least one Cullen listening intently, even through the windows.

“How would you feel about a walk?” He asked, gesturing to the trees, the paths weaving their way into the forest despite what he was sure were Cullens’ attempts at not leaving them.

Isabella smirked. “Yeah, ‘cause that doesn’t sound ominous at all. I ask about hunting, and you bring me into the woods.”

Aro chuckled, delighted by her sense of humor as much as he was by drawing a more sincere smile from her.

“I did make a promise not to bite a human while I’m here. You’re still human, therefore you’ll be safe. Come, Isabella,” He said gently tugging her closer, leading her away from the house.

She followed and continued to do so even as he had to let go of her hand as the path made it impossible for her to keep her balance while doing so. Then again, it seemed she wasn’t exactly able to either way. She probably didn’t realize he could hear every murmured curse, every startled gasp despite how quiet she was trying to be.

“You’ll be reborn a perfect hunter,” he said over his shoulder as they went deeper into the trees. 

“That a nice way of saying I won’t be stumbling through the woods?” She countered.

“Or cursing every second step. I realize I may be behind on the times, but I was certain it wasn’t considered ladylike to use that sort of language.

“Ha!” Isabella replied. “It’s coming into fashion.”

When they were far enough away that he could no longer hear the low rumble of the quiet argument pertaining to Edwards’ desire to follow them, Aro stopped, turning to face Isabella.

Seeming to understand that this was where they were stopping for their conversation, she went to a thick, sturdy tree a few feet away and leaned up against it. Isabella brushed her hair back behind her ear before looking up at him.

Aro looked over, realizing perhaps consciously for the first time how inquisitive her eyes were. She was someone who seemed to truly love to learn, someone who would find the library in Volterra a small piece of heaven, the time to study everything a true gift. 

And she wanted to know the natural ways of hunting, something Aro knew only one or two Cullens had any real knowledge of, yet likely wouldn’t talk about.

He pursed his lips, trying to figure out a good starting point.

“If I’m to be honest, I haven’t purposely set out to hunt for many, many years. We have people brought in. They believe they’ve won a trip, most times. Others are offered a tour of the castle. The locals are superstitious, of course. You were there when they held the Saint Marcus festival. But many of them don’t interact with tourists. 

“But when I do hunt, as any vampire should, I look for someone who is alone. Better if it appears they will not be missed. I know of some who tend to stalk those they believe to be criminals, or at the very least should be classified as one. There was one, before the invention of monitors in hospitals, that would go to the bedside of a dying patient.”

“So it’s not like…. I won’t just smell a human and want to … to drink them.”

“Some humans will smell better than others, of course,” Aro replied. “But you will not be overcome with the urge to drink any human you see merely because they are a food source.”

“Can you not drink a human to death?” Isabella frowned.

Aro frowned. “It’s been done.” He replied uneasily. “But it’s a very delicate balance, breaking our own laws aside. After all, a human would remember the bite.” He said, glancing at the scar on Isabella’s arm. “They would have the scar to prove it. What’s more, is one must drink enough to extract all the venom to prevent a change, but not so much that the human would die from the loss. And it would never be enough. It would quench but not satisfy. So the human involved would likely have to be in a sort of relationship, I suppose, with the vampire. They would have to be bitten on a very regular basis.”

“I was referred to as a pet but a vampire once. One that was part of the coven that hunted me.” Isabella explained. “Would that be …?”

Indignation at such a term being applied to his mate, known or not, had Aro bristling. 

“It would be the term, yes.” He replied with his jaw still clenched. “But that vampire would know the Cullens don’t feed off humans simply by their eyes.”

Isabella frowned, but nodded, her gaze venturing to the trees. 

“Does it… I mean you were human once, a long time ago,” She said the last bit with a smirk. “But, does it ever bother you?”

He had wondered if she would ask, especially given that her only interaction with vampires had been limited to the Cullens or those who hunted her.

Aro wanted to approach, to take her hand again, to have her look him in the eye, but he could tell it probably wouldn’t do much good. She wasn’t closed off, not really. She wasn’t looking at him, and she did bend a leg, resting her foot against the trunk of the tree she leaned on. But her arms were wrapped around the trunk behind her, not crossed over her chest or any other related configuration.

“Your mentality changes.” He replied gently. “You’ll have affection for your family, still, and friends. Those roots don’t fade. I was able to change Didyme because she was my sister, and I cared for her. I did not interact with my friends from my former life, but I also had no desire to feed off them, despite the appetizing smell. But humans you don’t know? An instinct takes over. No different than a human hunting a deer, or rabbit for nourishment.”

“Even when they beg?” She asked.

“Not all of them do, Isabella.” He replied easily. “They may cry out in pain, but if done right the venom silences.”

She furrowed her brow and looked down at her wrist. “If it’s sucked out immediately.”

“That’s the part that causes the most pain.” He acknowledged. “If it’s left to burn if it sits in the veins….” When she said nothing, he asked, “Were you planning on… pursuing your nature? When you’ve changed? Or will you join the Cullens’ coven even though you and young Edward don’t appear to be romantically entangled any longer?”

If his heart still beat, he was sure the anticipation of her answer would have it hammering. As it was, hers had picked up speed momentarily, just briefly. She’d been relatively calm, despite the nature of her questions. 

“In the beginning? When I thought Edward was my world? Yeah, I would have been a part of their family. But now?” She met his gaze, holding it, lifting her chin. “I don’t know. I won’t be here, in Forks, where I’ll be around people I know. That I care about. I want to say I couldn’t kill anyone, but you said our nature changes. So, I mean… Carlisle.”

“Carlisle is an exception in how much humanity carries over,” Aro told her bluntly. “He’s not the only one, of course. We’re aware of other covens around the world that practice the same feeding habits.”

Bella nodded again. “So the nature changes, with exceptions. I guess I don’t know. I suppose I’ll see when the time comes.” She studied his face. “You need to hunt, though. Soon.”

He frowned.

“How do you-?”

“Your eyes.” She smiled as she gestured toward them. “They’re darker. I’m used to seeing the difference in gold, but it’s not hard to figure out.”

He grinned. “Yes, I will need to hunt, probably tonight.”

“I shouldn’t keep you then.” She said, glancing over her shoulder toward the house. 

“You would like to return?” He asked cautiously.

“No,” She replied. “But I should.”

“May I escort you?” He asked. 

“Will you be alright to?” She asked in return, looking at him once more.

He tilted his head. “You have nothing to fear from me, Isabella.”

“I know.” She said, and he knew she meant it. “Like I said the other night, I know I’m safe with you. I don’t know why or how, but I do.”

He wanted to tell her. Aro wanted to explain everything to her then, but refrained. Isabella likely didn’t know exactly how powerful a mate’s bond would be. Why Carlisle had been drawn to Esme the moment he met her when she was barely more than a girl. Why his daughter, the blonde, Rosalie, had been disinterested with Edward but was able to carry the mauled body of her mate for miles, smelling his blood but refraining from biting. He wasn’t sure how he could explain that the moment their eyes met back in Volterra he knew with barely a doubt that she was _his_ and he was _hers._

But she was still human. A human who had been convinced for at least some time that she was destined to be the mate of a vampire. And said same vampire still believed his infatuation with her was the bond between mates dulled by her human nature and the siren call of her blood. 

She would think him intense, Aro was sure. That Isabella may chalk it all up to another obsessive vampire. Or worse, she may believe that he was lulling her so that when she _did_ change, and what gifts she would undoubtedly have came forward, he would only want her for the guard.

So Aro didn’t say a word but smiled, pleased she would at least confess this knowledge again, that nothing had changed.

There was a rustle in the trees, and Aro looked away just as Edward appeared beside Isabella.

She startled, her body jerking away from him.

“Everything alright?” Edward asked them.

“Yeah, Aro was just about to go with me home.” She replied.

“I’ll follow,” Edward stated.

“You don’t need to.” She assured him, but he was already shaking his head.

“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” Edward replied firmly, and Isabella huffed.

Aro could see the denial forming on her lips when he was struck with an odd idea.

“Allow him to, Isabella.” He said simply, surprising them both. “He wants to make sure that when I leave you, I don’t double back, and quench my thirst on you or your father.” He glanced at Edward, meeting his eye. “I don’t need to see every thought you’ve ever had to know that’s what you were thinking.” 

Edward’s jaw tensed, his fists clenched, but he said nothing. Instead, he turned, leading the three of them out of the woods to Isabella’s ancient, rusting vehicle.

~*~

Her home was simple, quaint, and one they would have had to pass by earlier to wind up near the Cullens. 

Aro was partly amused, and perhaps a touch uncertain, having come to the realization that, for whatever reason, Isabella had not wanted him to know where she resided earlier. 

She parked the vehicle, the break creaking rather loudly, and the engine sputtering as it stopped. She glanced around, then looked at him.

“Charlie’s not back from work yet.” She said. 

He had no idea what that was supposed to mean. 

Isabella began to unfasten her seatbelt, as she made the motion to do so, he zipped around to her door, opening it for her.

“Allow me to walk you to the door.” He said, offering her a hand as Edward’s vehicle pulled up behind Isabella’s truck.

She snickered. “You know how old fashioned that is, right?” She asked as she grabbed her bag and took his hand anyway.

Skin, warm and hot against his own, and yet not flashes of thought. It was a novelty that had yet to wear off, a balm he didn’t know he needed all these years. To feel touch and hear nothing.

“And yet, you have yet to tell me not to bother.” He retorted as Edward got out of the car, slamming the door, stalking up to them.

Aro paid him no mind, but he was uncertain if the same could be said for Isabella. She dropped his hand, turning to the door, moving a touch slower than she would normally.

It felt like inching forward, a snail’s pace or slower. Aro reminded himself he would get to run later, to move as fast as he liked as he stalked his prey. That this was the speed of the human condition, and that she was possibly doing it to draw out her time with him.

She got to the door, moving her keys in her hand until she found the one she wanted.

Grinning at him over her shoulder, Isabella said, “So, seeing as you’re going to be around, maybe the next time you wanna talk to me you could, I dunno, call? Or something that’s not standing in the middle of the road?”

“Seeing as that I’m so ancient, I’m surprised you assume I know how to use a telephone.” He quipped as she unlocked her front door.

She opened it, and a whirlwind of scent wafted out. Human, of course. Isabella in concentrate came through, as did a masculine sort of smell that was undoubtedly from her father. An artificial citrus scent, mixed with a light floral. Food, human food, and animal blood, likely from a meal made with meat in the last twenty-four hours.

And vampire. Unfamiliar vampire.

Aro hadn’t been inside the Cullen house, and scent would not exactly permeate outside. But he’d been in the heads of Edward, Alice, and Carlisle had the impression of the scent of those in the family he had yet to meet. This scent did not match up to anything he thought it should, and a glance shared with young Edward confirmed it.

A vampire had been inside Isabella’s home, and it was not anyone known to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience with me as this update was not at all a week after the last. Real life was much more hectic in the last few weeks which left me rather exhausted for what I would deem "writing time". I hope the long-ish chapter makes up for it, and I'll certainly try my best not to leave you hanging for too long.
> 
> I played around a little with Stephanie's vampire lore, incorporating a bit of what I always understood vampire lore to be when it comes to their feeding habits. I tried to think if I recalled from all the brief scenes we had of vampires hunting humans in the movies if they screamed or cried during a feed, but I couldn't remember anything aside from the immediate startle/cry at being bitten. Bella was the exception with James, but she had also been sorta made to sit and suffer while he and Edward went at it.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed. And again, I'll try not to wait so long this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:** Contains a scene that may be unsettling as Aro hunts. It's not described in massive detail, but it is a vampire story, so there's mentions of blood. Also how he disposes the body

“Alright, what’s going on?” Bella asked from the backseat of Edward’s Volvo.

“There was another vampire in your house, _mia cara._ ” Aro replied from the driver seat, Edward being on the phone with someone from the moment he and Aro stopped zipping around her home.

They’d brushed past her almost immediately, and then unceremoniously - and strangely in agreement - ushered her right past her truck to the silver car. Aro had torn out of the driveway in such a way that it was highly likely to have drawn the attention of the neighbors, should they have been home, but it seemed neither of the vampires had cared in the moment.

“Right,” Bella said, darting her eye between the two of them. “I take it wasn’t someone we know?”

“I would say not,” Aro replied as he turned sharply toward the Cullen house, causing Bella to grab the front seats to steady herself.

As soon as they were back in the Cullens’ driveway, Aro was out of the car, and at her door, Edward ended his call and rushed to the door. Aro led Bella inside with a hand on her back, between shoulder blades. It was grounding, the cool weighted touch, and helped her focus on the present.

Inside the house, in the living room, the Cullens had gathered with the exception of Emmett and Jasper, both absent for reasons Bella could only hazard a guess at.

Rosalie’s eyes fell to her immediately, though it could have been because Aro was so near her. There was a sharpness in the blonde’s eyes that was only slightly more prominent than usual. Crossing her arms, Rosalie turned away, facing Carlisle as he stood in the center of the room.

“Jasper and Emmett left as soon as you told me what was happening,” Carlisle said to Edward. “They should already be at Bella’s home, picking up the trail.”

“Who was it?” Alice asked with a frown. “Someone we know?”

“I didn’t recognize his scent,” Edward replied. “And Aro was just as unfamiliar with it.”

“So not one of the Volturi, then?” Esme asked Aro, and he nodded.

“None of my guard should still be here in the Americas. If they are, they would have been in Seattle.” He turned to Bella then, and calmly said, “Your heart is beating rather fast.”

“I’m scared.” She confessed to him with a mirthless laugh. “A strange vampire in my house? I mean, what if Charlie had been home?”

“He’d probably be dead,” Rosalie stated, giving voice to the worry that had lingered silently in the back of Bella’s mind.

“Indeed.” Aro agreed just as the door opened, and Emmett and Jasper returned.

“Charlie’s going to be at the station for a bit,” Emmett said with a smirk. “He’ll need to have the battery in his car boosted.”

“Is that the default method for keeping us where we are?” Bella asked with a snicker.

Emmett’s smirk grew to a full grin. “I may have borrowed Edward’s trick.” He conceded.

“Jasper?” Carlisle asked.

“The scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella’s house.”

“Disappeared?” Aro asked.

Jasper met his gaze unflinchingly. “Gone. Like there was a car or something waiting for him, to take him to wherever she came from.”

“Someone’s orchestrating this,” Edward said, looking to Alice who shook her head.

“It’s not anyone we know.” She told him. “I’d have seen if Victoria decided to do something like this. And with Aro here, we know it’s not the Volturi. And even if it were, they pose no danger to Bella.” She stated with such certainty that it would have been foolish for anyone to argue with her. 

While no one seemed to question it outright, there were a few skeptical looks, but none more than fan Edward, though he stayed silent on the matter.

“So we keep looking,” Emmett said with an easy shrug.

“We should also take shifts, guarding Bella at her house,” Carlisle said decisively. 

Rosalie huffed. “Another protection detail?”

“Rosalie,” Esme chided.

“But she’s right.” Bella cut in. “You’re already searching for Victoria, and now someone else. You can’t do that, protect me, watch my dad, and keep yourselves fed.”

“We’re not leaving you defenseless,” Edward said flatly, then shot his gaze to Aro. “No.”

“I said not a thing.” He retorted.

“You didn’t need to, because you were clear. But if you think we’re going to leave you alone to watch over Bella-”

“Why wouldn’t you?” She asked. “How many times does he have to prove that he’s not a danger to me.”

“Even if I believed that, truly, what about Charlie? What about those who go to your house, like the Blacks?” Edward reminded her.

An idea came to mind, and Bella’s eyes widened. “Jake.” She said.

“Exactly, do you really think-”

“No, I mean…,” She looked to Carlisle. “The treaty. Do you think they would be willing to amend it? Help?”

Carlisle looked uncertain, glancing from Bella to Aro. “I’m not sure.” He confessed. “And Aro’s presence-”

“You can explain to them, old friend, the agreement in which you and I came upon already,” Aro assured. “But if there’s a chance I would speak with them, I should hunt now.”

Carlisle glanced outside at the fading sunlight and then nodded.

Aro turned to Bella, his hand sliding to her arm, down to her hand. “I will return as quickly as possible.” He informed her. 

“Yeah, alright.” She nodded, and in a blink, he was gone, the door softly closing behind him.

~AB~

It was with quiet rage that Aro ran north, where the snow grew thicker, and the air crisper. Night was falling, though the clouds had thickened considerably the further away he went. There was the barest drizzle of rain in the air when he happened across a fairly large town, or perhaps a relatively small city.

The smell of human made venom secrete in his mouth, a throwback to his human origins when a delicious meal would make his mouth water. There were many heartbeats, all fluttering at various speeds around him. Aro moved through the streets, observing, watching, waiting - though the latter was rather impatiently. There was someone stalking Isabella, and he wanted to be there to watch her, protect her.

If anyone was going to bite her, it would be him. And anyone who tried to drain her would find themselves quickly dismembered.

But that would have to wait, for he would be of no use to her with thirst. 

He happened upon a young man. He waited alone at what looked to be a bus stop, the street not terribly busy, the traffic sparse but not infrequent. Aro would have to be quick, time it right. He waited, watched, counted the pause with traffic, listening for the flutter of heartbeats that might draw closer. 

Nothing.

He counted, and when the normal pause in traffic came, he struck.

With speed and efficiency, he grabbed the young man from the bench and brought him back to the shadowed alleyway Aro had been hiding in. With a hand clamped over the human male’s mouth, he hadn’t been able to make a sound, not a peep, when he was so quickly snatched away.

Aro kept his hand clamped over his mouth, regretting not having brought a pair of gloves with him to drown out the man’s thoughts.

There were so many mundane ones. General life, what to eat, what to wear, where to go. Should he talk to that girl in his class? Did he dare as the boy from the hockey team on a date? Where would he go to college? Was the degree he chose the right way to go. There was the pondering of faith and religion, of science and the news. There were thoughts of sex, partners of the past, ones the man regretted, ones he thought he should have been better to. 

There was emotion, love, hate, joy, boredom, elation, jealousy, fear. Fear was always a strong one.

The acrid smell of sweat tickled Aro’s nose as he brought his mouth down on the man’s neck, the glands trying to give off a scent to keep Aro away. The sweet scent of cortisol cut through the worst of it as Aro’s teeth pierced skin, and the sweet, warm liquid flooded his mouth.

Blood was always expected to be salty, and it often was, but there was a sweetness to it spiked from the fear of the prey.

Not terribly far away, the sound of the bus the man had likely been waiting for passed by, the engine humming and the breaks creaking as it stopped. Footsteps on the sidewalk, making a dash for somewhere nearby, a pair of heartbeats only picking up speed from exertion. There was laughter, a man and a woman, and hints of food laced with spice, different from the smoky variety that subtly floated about. They passed nearby, but the feed was at the point now that, had they glimpsed into the alley, they would merely see a pair of men, one with his head thrown back, the other mouthing at his neck. The humans would giggle and look away, believing to have caught a tryst. 

Life was gone long before the blood was. Once the last drop had been had, Aro licked the stray drops from his lips, then glanced around the alley for a place to stash the body. An empty, metal trash bin, rusted and riddled with holes, was tucked in the corner near a chain-link fence. He stashed the body in, then withdrew his lighter and set fire to the clothes, jumping back as soon as the flame caught. He watched for just a few moments as the flesh caught. 

The smell would blend with that already peppering the air, the flames barely going over the rim of the old can, the holes not big enough to cause issues. No one would notice it, and if they did, it was likely to be assumed that a squatter had set it to ward off the chill and perhaps offer a bit of dryness to the damp night.

Aro glanced around, ensuring he wasn’t seen, noting all the fluttering hearts were calm, and then took off back to Forks.

~AB~

As Aro left, Bella nervously withdrew her cellphone and dialed Jacob’s number. She put it on speakerphone, not that she thought anyone in the room wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation, but more so Carlisle could interject if he desired.

It rang twice.

“I thought I was supposed to call you?” Jacob teased, and Bella chuckled, momentarily forgetting the stress she had momentarily been under.

“Yeah, well, things happened.” She replied.

“Oh?” He asked, sounding intrigued.

“Yeah, Jake, listen….” She sobered, looking up at Carlisle, seeing his nod of encouragement. “Is… Sam nearby? Carlisle wants to talk to him, and it’s important.”

Jacob was silent for a moment. “What does the bloodsucker want?”

“He can hear you.” She scolded.

“Yeah, and?”

She huffed. “Look, Jake, something happened, alright? A vampire the Cullens don’t know was in my house this afternoon.” When Jacob didn’t say anything, she added, “Carlisle wants to talk to Sam about a bit more of a truce. Where you guys might be able to help watch over Charlie and me. Among… other reasons.”

She really hoped the slight swoon she felt at thinking of Aro didn’t come through in her voice, or pulse, or anything that might give away what she thought or felt. 

Vampire girl indeed. 

She didn’t want to admit even to herself that she was beginning to have a slight crush on Aro - and she knew even without acknowledging it that that wasn’t even the truth. The last thing she needed was the family that might be her coven, the boy who was her best friend and would likely be her enemy, hearing any sort of affection in her voice toward Aro.

The silence lingered another few moments until Jacob said, “Alright. But I can’t promise Sam will talk.”

“That’s fine, but… there’s more. See, while Carlisle and Sam talk, there’s…. Well, could you come to the house? Maybe… get the vampire’s scent? I don’t know, can you do that?”

“Yeah,” Jacob said, still an edge to his voice but it was softer somehow.

“Alright.” Bella sighed with relief, glad to hear that he would go. “So, Sam and Carlisle?”

“He can meet Sam at the treaty line,” Jacob said after a beat. “And I’ll meet you at the house soon.”

“Great. Thanks, Jake.” Bella said as she ended the call. “I need to get to the house.”

“I’ll take you.” Edward offered immediately. 

“Maybe Alice-”

“I’m sorry, Bella.” Alice shook her head. “I need to be around the wolves, maybe if I’m near them more I can start to see around them.”

Bella wanted to argue but the frown Edward gave Alice made her think that maybe there was something the pixie-like vampire hadn’t shared with her all hearing brother. Bella, instead, nodded, glanced at Edward, and moved for the door. The other vampires began to zip around, readying to meet the tribe, most likely.

She headed for the car, not that the sun had fallen more than she anticipated. As she climbed in, she called Charlie’s desk at the station.

“Hello, Chief Swan.” He answered, and Bella hadn’t realized how relieved she would feel at hearing his voice, knowing he was safe.

“Dad, it’s me,” Bella said as Edward got in and shut the door.

“Hey, Bells, I’m sorry. Something happened to the cruiser, I dunno, but-”

“It’s fine, dad.” She grinned. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Maybe, get an idea…?”

“I’ll be home in an hour, maybe a bit? I got a bit sidetracked and caught up in some work. But I’ll bring home dinner. How’s pizza?”

“Pizza,” She repeated with a grin. “That’s… fantastic. I’ll see you later.” She hung up, not having realized that Edward had begun to drive, and what’s more, they were almost to her home. 

“Are you alright?” He asked her after a moment.

“Yeah,” She said. “Yeah, I guess.” Then she looked at him. “Is it that obvious? Like, the scent of other vampires? I knew you probably picked up James and the others because of the wind and their thoughts, but.”

Edward shrugged, shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He replied. “I’m used to the smell of your house is all.”

Bella blinked. “Aro’s not.”

“He was probably in the house earlier with Carlisle. Picked up our scent.” Edward said, and Bella supposed that could have been it, but it didn’t really explain all that much. They hadn’t even stepped inside the house before they had gone to investigate. She nearly opened her mouth to ask more, but then they were pulling up in front of the house, Jacob already waiting next to Bella’s truck.

She was out of the Volvo and running over to her friend as quickly as she could. “Hey,” She said, reaching up and hugging him, catching Jacob off guard if the way he stumbled meant anything. He wrapped his arms around her loosely in return.

“Magnet for trouble.” Jacob teased lightly, quietly though it’s likely Edward heard.

“It’s the strongest in Bella’s room,” Edward said firmly, and Bella stepped back, looking over her shoulder, seeing him grimacing in the dark. 

“Come on,” Bella said, tugging Jacob with her a moment toward the house and letting him in.

She glanced around as Jacob went upstairs, turning on the lights as she went to brighten the room against the falling night. Nothing seemed out of place, not that she could see. That made the whole ordeal that much more unsettling, the fact that it was by scent alone that they knew someone had been around.

A protection detail would mean more for her in regards to Charlie, but she couldn’t help but also feel a bit better for herself as well. Had she never realized how her feelings for Edward had changed, she’d have likely had him in her room every night still. She didn’t know if he still watched her window at night, though he probably did. But now, hopefully, it wouldn’t just be vampires watching over her and her dad.

A door opened, closed, and Bella left the kitchen where she wondered to head into the living room just as Jacob came downstairs. Edward came from the entryway, oddly casual in the way he was leaning against the wall, seemingly patient with Jacob for once.

“Whoever it was, they left their stink behind,” Jacob said just before he hopped down the last few steps. Bella sensed someone behind her, turning to glimpse Aro coming in from the back before turning her attention back to Jacob. “It’ll be hard to miss-” Jacob stopped, tensing. 

It took Bella a couple of seconds to understand what was happening. Edward smirked as Jacob started to vibrate ever so slightly, darkness clouding his brown eyes as he looked over Bella’s shoulder. 

“Jake,” She said, shifting to put herself more in front of Aro, spreading her arms. “Don’t. Stop, it’s not what you think. He’s with us. He’s with me.”

Jacob settled only slightly, vibrations stopping but the tension lingering. “Do you know what’s behind you?” He asked. 

As if she hadn’t already known, Bella looked over her shoulder, seeing Aro looking at Jacob with weary, guarded fascination. His eyes were a bright red again, and as crazy as it seemed, she could almost see there was a warmth to his complexion. 

“You were fast.” She noted.

Aro glanced away from Jacob to meet her eye. “I told you I would be.”

Jacob frowned deeper. “You know him?”

“Jake, this is Aro,” Bella said as she cautiously lowered her arms. 

“He’s of the Volturi.” Edward offered, and after a moment he frowned at Jacob. “Really? _That’s_ your immediate reaction?”

Whatever Jacob thought, he was unrepentant. He seemed to barely be able to keep the grin from his face even as he turned his attention back to Bella and Aro.

“You’re the second scent I picked up.” He stated.

“I searched the house with young Edward when we escorted Isabella home earlier this evening.”

Jacob snorted. “Isabella?” He asked her.

She just shrugged, not really sure how to explain that it wasn’t terrible coming from Aro.

“And you’re Jacob,” Aro said as if he wasn’t entirely certain. “I saw you in the mind of young Alice when she and … Bella… came to aid dear Edward.” Aro inched around Bella, getting closer to Jacob, eyes searching. “But you’re not a werewolf.”

Jacob’s eyes widened as Bella’s did, and Edward pushed off the wall.

Bella and Jacob exchanged uncertain glances.

“I’ve seen him transform,” Bella told Aro. “I’ve _seen_ him as a wolf.”

“Yes,” Aro tilted his head back, eyes never leaving Jacob’s. He then held out his hand as if to offer a handshake.

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair.” Bella protested.

Jacob frowned at the offered hand. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Well, the polite thing would be to shake it, seeing as how as a guest of the Cullens, I’m part of your treaty. And I would assume your… alpha? He’ll have spoken to Carlisle about the situation, I’m sure, and will have been informed that I’m here. And, despite my more natural feeding inclinations, am aware of the rules and will adhere to them.”

“He can also hear your thoughts.” Bella interjected, “if you touch his hand.”

Jacob scoffed, “No different than this one, then.” He said, a quick gesture to Edward before boldly taking Aro’s hand.

It was with utter fascination that Bella watched Aro’s eyes dance for the brief seconds that he held Jacob’s hand. His grin grew, wider and more delighted before he let go of Jacob’s hand with a slight giggle.

“You’ve carried a torch for Isabella for some time, my friend.” He said, causing Jacob to blush and scowl. “And you were there for her when she was abandoned by Edward, left alone, unprotected until you and your pack intervened. Quite clever how you got around your command to remain silent.”

“How…?” Jacob asked, looking at Bella.

“Every thought,” Edward interjected. “Every single one you’ve ever had.”

“Well, then at least he knows what I think of him,” Jacob said, crossing his arms.

“None of us have to like each other,” Aro said as he moved back to Bella’s side, standing just behind her. “We all have the same goal in mind.” 

“I don’t get why you want to help.” Jacob glared. “You’re the worst kind of bloodsucker.”

“And he plans to change Bella,” Edward interjected.

“So did you.” Jacob retorted.

“No, I never planned to change her.” Edward shook his head. “I didn’t want this life for her.”

“So why did you come back?” Jacob retorted.

“Enough,” Bella said firmly, ceasing the argument before it continued. “Jake, you and I? We’ll talk. If you’re willing to listen to what I have to say, we’ll talk, I promise. You mean too much to me for us to not… you mean too much to me. So, please, let me say my piece, just not tonight, okay?” 

Jacob glanced just past her a moment before he nodded.

“Okay.” She said. “So, we need to coordinate. I’m sure Carlisle and Sam are working out the details, and I don’t know what those are, and you won’t either until you phase. So, go on. I’ve got these two here with me until Charlie comes home, and by then I’m sure there will be a sort of plan in place.”

Jacob seemed hesitant to leave, but he nodded. 

Despite Aro’s proximity, or perhaps because of it, he came over and hugged her once more. It was a little longer, and a little tighter than it had been earlier, but Bella didn’t mind all that much. When he stepped back, he didn’t even look at Edward before heading for the back door and disappearing into the night.

When Jacob was gone, Bella felt a tension she hadn’t realized she was holding leave her body, and she sighed wearily.

“Bella, you should sit,” Edward said, in front of her in a blink and taking her hand, guiding her toward the couch.

“Where did you go?” She asked Aro as she collapsed on the sofa, Edward sitting in the only spot available beside her.

“North,” Aro replied. “Somewhere fairly populated, well away from here.”

“She doesn’t need to know the details,” Edward said with cold politeness.

“I wasn’t about to give them,” Aro countered in the same tone. “If Isabella wanted to know-”

“Bella, her name is Bella!” Edward snapped, getting to his feet. “You hear everyone else refer to her like that. You’ve been in enough heads to know it’s what she wants to be called, and yet you insist on saying it!”

Aro’s jaw shifted slightly, and while he didn’t narrow his eyes, there was a sort of narrowness to them in the way he looked at the younger vampire.

“And yet, she has yet to correct me.” Aro retorted with strained politeness. 

“I do prefer Bella,” She said with a sigh, that tension returning. “I usually hate my name, but … I don’t mind. Hearing it from you, I don’t mind.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Edward told her in a calm, reassuring voice. “You don’t need to bend to please him. He might be a king for vampires, but he’s not yours, not yet.”

“But I will be.” Aro reminded.

“We’ll see,” Edward said evenly, and in that moment of quiet, they heard a car pull in the driveway.

“That’ll be Charlie.” Bella sighed, leaning back on the sofa, both thankful and disappointed that her dad arrived home when he did.

Edward took a seat next to Bella on the couch, as close as possible, and she got up on her feet a mere second after, turning to Aro. 

“Until we meet again, Bella.” He said with a smirk. The way he emphasized the Ls in her name caused her brow to twitch up and her lips to tick into a quick grin.

Bella blinked, and he was gone, the front door opening likely as he was leaving through the back.

“Bells?” Charlie questioned with an edge in his voice, a warning.

“Hey, dad.” She turned to see Charlie holding a pizza box, glaring at Edward where he sat on the couch.

Bella smiled, “Jake was just here, you probably missed him.” She said as she went to get the pizza box from Charlie to bring to the kitchen. “Edward came by to get notes on what he missed when his family moved.” She tossed over her shoulder before going into the kitchen and setting the box on the counter. She returned to the living room, breezing past her Charlie who still stared, Edward having only stood from the couch. She went upstairs, into her room, and peeked out the window. She peered into the dark, searching for a sign of who might be out there, of who might _still_ be out there. She noticed, only because she was trying to see it, the moonlight hitting fur, and glinting off large eyes.

She grabbed some papers from her desk, possibly notes, possibly nothing, and brought them back downstairs.

“Here,” She said as she handed them over to Edward. “Should be all you need.”

Edward snickered. “Thanks,” he said, smiling at her.

Bella chewed her lip. “Can… can you let me know if … if….” _If Aro made it back to the house alright? If the werewolves honored a modified truce, allowed him to stay in Forks._

“I’ll let you know the details of Alice’s party, but I think we both know she’ll want you around to help plan it,” Edward said with a warm smile, taking her hand and briefly giving it a gentle squeeze. He then turned to Charlie. “I’m sorry to have interrupted your evening, Chief Swan.”

“Yep,” Charlie said, watching Edward until he was out the front door. As soon as it was shut, Charlie rounded back to Bella. “Was Jake actually here?”

“He was,” She grinned. “He came by the school and we hung out for a bit after,” She told him, leaving out a great chunk of the truth, but at least she hadn’t lied outright. There would be enough of that in the days to come. “That alright?”

“Totally.” Charlie grinned. “Come on, let’s eat before it gets too cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seemed to come to a natural conclusion, so instead of adding more, I decided to post this chapter. I suppose it's an apology for the long wait between 4 and 5, and possibly a promise that I am still working on it whenever possible.
> 
> On another note: I like listening to playlists while I write, anyone have an recommendations or spotify lists for our dear rare-pair? (Or youtube)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Aro-centric chapter.

He didn’t need to see the thoughts in Edward’s mind to know his slipping into the young vampire’s vehicle as soon as he left Isabella’s home left the boy less than pleased. Still, Aro got great amusement from seeing Edward’s jaw clenched, his hands gripping the steering wheel near to breaking.

“I suppose I could have attempted to race your vehicle back to your home, but I’m sure you would have found fault with that as well,” Aro said conversationally, picking invisible lint off his suit.

Edward said nothing.

“I do wonder, Edward, what precisely your problem is with me. Other than I follow my natural instincts, of course.” He glanced at Edward, but he said nothing. “Fine.” He said, giving up trying to make conversation.

“What would I have to do,” Edward asked as they approached the hidden driveway to the Cullen house, “to change your mind about changing her?”

Aro looked at Edward, seeing the earnestness to the question beneath the hostility and teenage petulance. 

“There is nothing you can do,” Aro told him. “She will be a vampire before her next birthday. September thirteenth, correct?”

“There has to be something,” Edward argued, slowing down to a human’s driving speed before turning into the drive. “What if I become one of your guards?”

Aro’s brow arched, and his lips turned ever so slightly upward. “You would become a member of the Volturi to prevent Isabella from becoming like us? And here I thought you loved her.”

“I do,” Edward snapped. “Which is why I want her human. To spare her soul.”

Aro chuckled. “Her soul,” He mocked. “You think that if humans have souls they don’t carry over with the change? Do we not die as well?”

“We’re damned.” Edward countered as the house came into view, and the garage door opened. 

“You and I, young friend, have very different beliefs when it comes to such notions.” Aro countered as Edward pulled into the garage, the door to the main house opening to reveal Alice waiting for them. “Isabella will change, and the only one who can alter my decision on the matter is her,” Aro said with finality before getting out of the vehicle. He smiled at Alice who smiled tentatively in return. “Young Alice, to what do I owe the pleasure of you meeting us down here?”

“You owe nothing.” She replied. “Carlisle merely wanted to speak to all of us as soon as possible, and I thought it would be better to make sure you _both_ make it to the living room.” She stated, glancing at Edward as he arrived at their side.

The three of them moved swiftly through the house and convened with the others within a second. 

Aro looked to Carlisle, who smiled cautiously back. 

“What news?” Aro asked.

“The pack will work with us,” Carlisle replied.

“Even with him?” Edward asked in disbelief.

Carlisle grimaced. “They aren’t pleased about it, of course, but-”

“ _That’s_ the reason?” Edward asked, and Aro frowned. He was listening just as much to Carlisle’s thoughts as he was his words.

Pursing his lips a moment, Aro moved to stand in front of Carlisle.

“May I?” He asked, holding out his hand palm up.

Carlisle glanced over Aro’s shoulder at Edward, but nodded anyway, placing his hand in Aro’s.

There was the usual surge, things that were already known to Aro, easily glazed over as it was nothing new. 

_What is he doing here? This can’t be good, perhaps Edward will be punished after all?_

Thoughts from the hospital, upon seeing Aro for the first time.

_Why does he have an interest in Bella? He seems oddly fond of her. Perhaps to see if she will be part of his guard should she be gifted._

The immediate aftermath of the visit before it returned to clinical wonderings until…

_She’s not scared of him. Oddly comfortable seeming. She’s not scared to touch him. Edward did say that Aro could read her thoughts either. It’s interesting, seeing him interact with a human he wasn’t intending to drink. Edward please, calm down. You can see he won’t hurt her. I don’t know why, but it’s obvious._

Mundane after Edward went out to the woods to find them.

_Another threat surrounding Bella. Unknown this time. It must be linked, there has to be a connection to Victoria. Perhaps Jasper will know, see something the rest of us don’t. It might be the Volturi, but I doubt it. Aro was with them, I could hear him talking to Bella when Edward called._

_She seems very much at ease with him, how strange. His eyes are darkening, the sound of her heartbeat, perhaps?_

_I wish Rosalie could understand, open her heart, welcome Bella._

A few more musings surrounding the family, Bella, then Aro came to precisely what he was looking for.

_Bella needs protection. I understand their reluctance regarding Aro, but if I explain to them how he is with her. It is strange that he’s so gentle with her, passive. I can understand their hesitation, the history they have with average vampires. It’s a risk; if Aro hunts within the pack’s territory, in the area, I can’t very well stop them from turning on him. But if he does, and if they do, we’ll have the Volturi to face. Aro had seemed willing to protect her on his own. She was willing to allow it. To tell the pack she trusts him isn’t a lie. She let him touch her, she seemed perfectly comfortable with him. I should talk to Bella, be sure. But if it got us the pack’s help…._

Aro let go of Carlisle’s hand and gave a reassuring grin. 

“You have my word, old friend, as you had before. I will not interfere with your treaty. Eternity is a long time to have to avoid one specific area.” 

Carlisle smiled back. “I appreciate it, Aro.”

“So what now?” Edward asked miserably, slouching against a wall.

“The pack will watch over the house at night, most nights anyway. While the adults of the tribe can adjust their schedules for work if needed, the younger members are… quite young. School and a need for sleep to help with their normal growth cycle is required, let alone the accelerated one brought on by their change. I think it best if Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie shadow Charlie, hover near the station, the house, so long as he isn’t on the tribe’s land. You, Edward, Alice, and Jasper will be able to be with Bella during the school day. I’ll watch Charlie whenever I’m not on shift, as well as watch the house on the days when the pack is unable.” He turned to Aro then. “I appreciate whatever help you offer, but if being around humans gets to be-”

“I shall be fine, Carlisle,” Aro assured. “And I will watch over Bella whenever possible.”

“What about Charlie?” Edward asked, and Aro looked at the sullen man. 

“If my aid is required, then yes.” He said simply, though he loathed the idea of having to watch the father. Edward must have caught at least part of it because he had a glimmer in his eye that spoke of a plot.

“How long will we be doing this?” Rosalie asked, and Aro immediately snapped his gaze to her.

How tempting it would be to read all her vain, selfish thoughts. He’d seen enough of her type throughout the centuries. He’d married one of her type.

“Until we know who the mystery intruder was, and when Victoria is captured. We can’t be sure the two aren’t connected.”

With a roll of her eyes, Rosalie turned and left the room, her mate following quickly after. After a moment Alice and her mate disappeared, and then Carlisle and Esme did as well.

It left only Edward and himself in the room. 

“I recommend finding something to occupy yourself.’ Edward stated as we went over to the piano. “They can all be rather loud.” He said as he started playing a melodic lullaby on the instrument.

Aro went to the bookshelf nearby, plucking a random novel from the shelves and sitting on the sofa not far from Edward. He opened the book, but his attention was still focused on the music. The cadence a strange mix of sad and joyful longing. 

“I’ve never heard this before,” Aro stated.

“I wrote it for Bella,” Edward replied without missing a single note.

“Yes,” Aro said, frowning. “I recall your thought process.” 

Edward had thought of it as a lullaby, a piece that came to him in spurts and fits as he watched Bella sleep, as she played on his mind. Aro closed his eyes a moment, listening to the notes, finding it had long passed a play of gentle lulling. Not passionate enough to be loving, more like heartbreak. Longing. 

“To love a human,” Edward said, clearly having heard Aro’s unfiltered thoughts, “is to long. To experience heartbreak. You’re going to change her, or demand we do it, and she will no longer be… Bella.”

“She will be a better Bella,” Aro replied, recalling Alice’s vision.

“Because she will be like us?” Edward asked with more than a hint of derision.

“No,” Aro countered, recalling the confidence in that woman yet to be. The grace, the way immortality fit Isabella like a glove. “Because she will become what she was destined to be.”

“No one is destined to become one of us.” Edward countered, continuing smoothly into another round of the song.

“Another thing where you and I differ in opinion,” Aro replied. “But then, I have been around far longer than you have, and have seen far more changes than you. You’ve seen Carlisle saving Esme, then Rosalie. You saw him save her mate a few years later, all of you brought back from the brink of death. Saved. Life anew. But there are those who… well, they simply take to it. They always seem to find us, one way or another. Like Isabella. She stumbled upon you, your family, by moving here. And she figured you all out, though you probably should have denied it somehow. Come up with far better reasonings as to why you are all the way you are. But it matters not. Isabella found you, found our world, and her longing to be a part of it… not all humans share it.”

Edward said nothing to this, so Aro returned his attention to his book, and decided to read it as slowly as possible.

His mind wandered not far in, thinking of brown eyes and amused smirks. Of questions, so many questions, how they would often linger into the personal. He thought of calm acknowledgment to a life gone, of human blood soaking having filled him, quenched him. How she looked at him just before he left, coy and interested, knowing that there was a joke and she was in on it, yet enjoying it more viscerally than she would likely admit to.

The notes of the song, played through yet again, faltered.

~*~

In the early hours of the morning, Edward took off to hunt. And with no one else in the house paying him any mind, Aro left. 

He took his car and drove to just out of range from the Swan house, parking in a small clearing just off the road. He knew that Esme would likely come to follow Isabella’s father soon, and the shapeshifters wouldn’t leave until someone else was watching over the residence, so Aro dashed through the trees until the scent of canine grew stronger. He slowed then, only moving a little further through the trees before he was face-to-face with what looked like an over-sized wolf.

It was instantly clear how the Cullens would assume what they were looking at was of the were variety. But it really should have clued them in that if they had been proper werewolves, they wouldn’t hold the form in any amount of sunlight. And there was sun, just peeking over the horizon. 

Aro tilted his chin high, standing without fear as the wolf sniffed him once, twice, then made a sort of sneezing motion before turning away. 

He thought to ask it if they were sneering at him but thought better of it. 

“I’ll watch the house from here.” He said, to it instead, and after a moment it, and another wolf turned away and headed into the forest.

Aro watched them a moment, then turned to the house, once more taken in by the utter simplicity of it. Of all the houses in the neighborhood, now that he thought of it. The Cullen house, like their vehicles, stood out from the rest of the locals. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was something that should be mentioned, the family themselves likely considered out of place anyway. 

Aro waited about a half-hour, perhaps a little longer, before the man he’d seen the night before glaring down young Edward left the house, heading to a police vehicle in uniform. He started the engine, and a moment later, Bella’s father had left.

Movement from one of the second-story windows caught his eye, and he glanced up seeing Isabella peeking out. He went to the edge of the tree line where she would see him, know she was alright, not alone.

Isabella jerked as if startled, then relaxed. 

The curtains were pulled back, and a moment later, the window was open.

“You can, umm… come in.” She said, not a shout by any stretch but he heard her all the same. He moved to the house, and while he knew from Edward’s - as well as Jacob’s- memories she expected him to jump the tree, Aro went in through the back door.

He heard her footsteps moving down the stairs, and he met her at the bottom, catching her as he startled her yet again.

Small, so very small, and delicate. He could _feel_ how delicate she was in a way he’d never noticed with prey. Isabella had stumbled in a sort of sideways motion when he surprised her, and he managed to stop her colliding with the floor, or perhaps the wall, with an arm around her waist. The other came around instinctively, cradling her to him, and her hands landed on his shoulder, not quite touching his neck. 

This close he could feel her heart, feel it pound with fear, then slow, then pick up speed again. He could smell her, that human scent of slight sweat, of blood, of soap. The musk that everyone carried, but somehow smelled divine to him when it came from her. Her blood held no appeal, no different than how he knew someone scented a food they enjoyed the smell of but didn’t enjoy consuming. 

Her breath caressed his skin, and it was novel to feel, almost enticing. He could very nearly see why Edward would want to keep her human. But the allure of never having to worry about hurting her, of truly holding her, truly touching, without the fear of breaking her was stronger. 

For a few precious seconds, Aro nearly kissed her. Having her in his arms, albeit accidentally, was like meeting her eye in the throne room all over again. Time did not pause, but it seemed to slow. She glanced at his lips, and he knew it would be well received if he gave in to his desire. 

But no, it wouldn’t do to give in now. 

“Sorry,” Isabella said, blushing as she used her hand on his shoulder to push away from him, and he let her go.

“It is as much my fault as it is yours.” He glanced up the stairs. “You intended for me to enter via your bedroom.”

She shrugged, blushing deeper. “No one else uses the door when they sneak in.”

“It was never my intention to sneak.” He countered. “I was merely ensuring your safety, though I admit to hoping for perhaps a bit more time with you prior to your time in school.”

“Yeah,” She said enthusiastically, nodding. “Yeah, just let me….” She gestured over her shoulder, then darted up the stairs.

Aro grinned, then glanced around. 

He hadn’t properly looked when he was here before, too focused on seeing if the vampire that had trespassed was still somewhere in the house. And when he’d returned later, he had been wary of the shapeshifter. But now, while Isabella moved as quickly as she could, it was still a human’s pace. Therefore, Aro could take in the pictures on the mantel of Isabella at different ages, often seen with a woman who she bore a resemblance to.

He noted the house was more masculine overall, but there was an undertone of feminine though it was faded and aged. 

He heard her footsteps heading for the stairs above, and Aro moved to meet her, waiting for her at the bottom.

“Are the stairs going to give you trouble again?” He teased and was pleased to get a smile from her.

“They might,” She said in return, adjust her bag where it sat on her shoulder before heading down. Stopping at the bottom, she glanced at the front door, and then at him. “Should I take my own truck, or?”

“I would say it’s wise, lest you want to draw attention.”

“It’s early,” She said, glancing at the clock in the living room. “No one would see, but… I guess if I have my truck I could say I went out for a walk.” 

“Whatever you wish, Isabella.” He said, moving to the door and opening it for her before she could blink.

She smirked. “It’s Isabella again, is it?” She asked as she passed him, looking at him over her shoulder as she passed.

“It is whatever you wish.” He countered, getting ahead of her to the truck, opening the door for her. She climbed in, he closed the door, and he was around and inside before she really settled. “If you wish for me to call you Bella, I will.” He told her honestly. “I believe Isabella is a beautiful name, but Edward was right. I have been in enough minds to know your preference, and still, I called you by a name you didn’t care for. I suppose I must apologize for that, but you never corrected me.”

She started the engine with a frown. “That’s not an apology.” She pointed out.

He grinned. “I apologize, _mia cara,_ for not respecting your preference. Would you like me to change it?”

She twisted her mouth. “I really don’t mind it from you. But… Bella just… it feels like it fits better.”

“Then I will endeavor to call you Bella.” He said, and she beamed. After a few minutes of silence, while Bella got on the road, and began her journey toward the school, Aro asked, “did you sleep well?”

“Yes and no,” She replied, tilting her head side to side. “I knew the pack was out there, and I know they can handle whoever crosses their paths. But I worried about you.”

“About me?” He asked, taken aback.

“I didn’t know if they would allow you to stay.” She confessed. “I tried to ask Edward if he would let me know if you were safe, but I wasn’t sure how to ask.”

“You simply ask it of him.”

She huffed. “It’s not that easy. He’s… I don’t know. I haven’t figured out how to interact with him now that things are different.” 

Aro contemplated this for a moment. He wanted to tell her that when she was his queen, she could simply ask anything of Edward. He’d likely comply, and though he wasn’t bound to, didn’t _have_ to, there was a certain kind of fear surrounding the Volturi. The way that word of mouth turns to legend made it so they weren’t just respected because they wrote, kept, and upheld the law, but because they were a feared lot. 

But this wasn’t something that should be brought up so early in the conversation. They barely had more than three days together, and only fleeting moments of those days. She could be scared off, resist the bond, ignore it, anything she liked because the truth was something she wasn’t ready for. And she may not wish to acknowledge the power she would have should she welcome to bond with open arms.

“You simply ask it of him,” he said again, more gently this time. “Because if he cares, truly cares for you, then your happiness will be more important than his own.”

Bella nodded, turning into the school lot, still very much empty at the early hour of the morning.

She parked, and then got out, leaving her bag behind. Aro followed, going to her side at an instant. She gestured toward the woods and then began to head that way, moving through the trees, following a sort of loose path.

“I’m sure you have more questions.” He offered when the silence lingered longer than expected.

Bella glanced at him, then faced forward. “Do you ever leave the castle? Fortress. Whatever it is?” She asked after a little while.

He chuckled. “Never. I’m still there, upon my throne. I’ve yet to decide if I’m having a terribly vivid daydream, or have somehow found my way into yours.”

She stumbled rather abruptly, and he caught her before she could fall yet again. 

“Perhaps I should stay at your side.” He teased, taking her hand in his, holding it as they moved once more. “A proper answer,” He began again. “I do leave the castle. Marcus does not, Caius only when there’s the promise of bloodshed or destruction. I tend to enjoy the run, as well as a proper hunt from time to time. It’s rumored, I understand, that I never leave, that I’m terrified to go anywhere without my guard to protect me.”

“But clearly you’re not.” Bella nodded once. “Because you’re here, alone, in Forks.”

“I am.” He agreed. 

“I still don’t really understand why I’m important enough for you to stay.” She said as they made it to a clearing. 

Bella stopped but didn’t pull away from him. She met his gaze straight on, unflinching, allowing the closeness that holding his hand required, but not closing it.

Aro held her eye. “Because when I said in Italy that you would make an intriguing immortal, I didn’t mean only the gifts you will likely have. I meant _you_ , _mia cara._ You and your desire to become one of us, the certainty you feel in belonging in this world. You will be an immortal unlike many. I did not need Alice’s vision to know this, but it certainly solidified it. I wish to know you, Isabella. I wish for you to know me, know the world you will be part of very soon. I want you to know everything your heart desires to know before I bite you, and the change begins.”

Her eyebrows rose toward her hairline. “You’ll change me?” She asked.

“If you would prefer one of the Cullens, I will arrange it. But-”

“No!” She said a bit too quickly. “No, it’s fine. I… I don’t mind.”

He grinned, the world around them brightening for a moment. 

Aro glanced up, seeing the sun finding a break in the heavy cloud cover, the early morning rays shining gold in the forest around them. He looked to Bella, but she was staring at his hand, smiling.

Aro looked down, feeling the light pressure against his skin, a sign she wanted to move it about, and he relaxed and allowed it. She turned his hand in hers, this way and that, catching the sunlight as it glinted.

He recalled Edward showing her one day, in a meadow he liked to frequent. He was disgusted with himself, disgusted at the way it made it less human. Couldn’t understand how she thought he was beautiful. It was a memory he wasn’t fond of.

_“The skin of a killer.”_

He wasn’t much different than a lion in the zoo. A fearsome predator, yes, but one that was subdued and tamed. 

Aro was precisely the killer Edward had tried to get Bella to see himself as.

“It doesn’t bother you.” He noted.

Bella looked up at him, her eyes sparkling almost as much as his skin, a smile brightening her face.

“I think it’s beautiful,” She said, her eyes darting about his face and neck.

“It is.” He said, taking her other hand, putting it on his cheek, surprised when her fingers moved along his skin. It traced his jaw, though it was more studious than sensual. “And what else about immortality delights you?” He asked in a whisper.

“Not stumbling about,” She said with a breathy chuckle. “I’ve never been what anyone would call graceful.”

“Eternal life?” He offered quietly.

“I suppose.” She said, pulling her hand away from his cheek, her fingertips lightly caressing whether consciously or not.

“And, what of your soul? You don’t fear that?” He asked.

Bella snickered. “Edward does.” She acknowledged. “But I mean… I want this bad enough, am so sure of it, that I can’t imagine it damning me. If there’s a life after death if a soul does go somewhere, why would a vampire be judged differently than a human?”

He could argue that they kill humans, many of them. But he could very nearly hear her arguing back that it’s their nature. Hadn’t he already explained that to her? She didn’t blink, cringe, or shrink at the thought that he’d hunted the night before. 

“I don’t know.” He replied. “I don’t really intend on finding out, either.”

He could hear cars beginning to pull in to the school, the quiet hum of people gathering and chatting.

“I think our time is up.” He told her softly.

“It’s never enough.” She said, and the place where his heart was soared at the longing in her voice. It may not have been intentional, but it was there all the same. “When will I…? I mean, how can we?”

“I will be with you every morning.” He promised her then, to hell with what the plans Carlisle had in mind. “If I can not join you immediately from your home, I will find you on the road.”

“It’s barely anything.” She noted.

“It’s what we have to start with. And you can always find me at the Cullens when I haven’t left town to hunt.”

Bella nodded, glancing in the direction of the school with a heavy sigh.

“Come,” He said, pulling tugging her hand to lead her back toward the school. “We shall steal more time together again.” He promised.

Once at the edge of the forest, he let her hand go. Aro watched Bella emerge from the trees, heading toward her truck to grab her bag. He could see Alice, Edward, Jasper, waiting beside it.

“Where were you?” Edward asked. “I went by the house, but-”

“Out for a walk,” Bella replied simply.

“I bet the sun was lovely coming through the trees,” Alice said cheerfully, and Aro watched as she squeezed between Edward and Bella, looping her arm through hers. “A walk this early may have just been the best decision you could have made for yourself.”

Aro watched with a grin until the younger vampires had his human mate safely inside the school.

Then he left to bid his time until the day was done. Until the new morning came. Until an opportunity to feel her touch once more was his once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again, everyone, for reading. Hopefully it doesn't feel like the plots dragging too much. I realized that we haven't had a bit of a time jump for a bit, maybe the next one?  
> Until then


	8. Chapter 8

“Do you ever get bored?”

Bella sat on a fallen tree, chin in her hand, elbow resting on her knee, taking Aro in as his skin sparkled in the warm sunlight.

It had been a couple of weeks of this, of rising early, finding Aro either already waiting in the truck or climbing in just after she left the house. A week of talking, of her getting to know the world she was going to join. Getting to know him.

Those precious early hours - or rather hour on any given day - were what got Bella up in the morning. What had her dread the weekend, though there had only been one so far. One she had to spend once more cooped up in the house due to a torrential downpour, this time with winds that had toppled the tree she was currently perched on.

Aro smiled back at her, amused. “Everyone does from time to time.” He responds.

“Yeah, but, you don’t sleep. You’ve probably read every book worth reading. Know every language, even the dead ones. What do you do?”

“I read the books that aren’t worth reading.” He replied. “I study new languages. I indulge in the more modern entertainment of film. And yes, on occasion, I find myself rather bored, as you say.”

Bella shook her head, lowering her arm as she leaned back. “I can’t imagine. I mean, I can, I suppose. I know they say my first year will be all blood lust.”

“And what did _I_ tell you, _mia cara?_ That it’s different for every vampire. You may become near savage, yes, or you may simply feel thirst and quench it.”

“Right,” She smirked, nodding as the image he painted in her mind previously came back to the forefront. “If I terrorize the city, drinking from everyone I see, it’s likely blood lust. But if I just look at the locals like a midnight snack, well….” She shrugged, her smirk growing as he laughed.

She hadn’t really consciously decided what she would do when it came to her new life to come. On one hand, Aro painted drinking a human’s blood as normal as drinking a cup of tea. The Cullens, well… Edward had said she was his own personal brand of heroin once and seemed all the Cullens believed it to be like a drug that had to be avoided lest one became addicted. Emmett wouldn’t talk about the experience, though Bella didn’t know what the reasoning behind it would be.

She would guess it was a little bit of shame, mixed with Edward’s desperately longing she did not know.

Edward hadn’t been as prominent in Bella’s life for the last couple of weeks. He was still a shadow following her around the school, but he didn’t talk to her much outside of general conversation. He didn’t attempt to mess with her truck again, though he _had_ followed her home once or twice, lingering outside in the forest after. And Edward had, once, attempted to pick her up early, but Bella had already left. Charlie had recounted the story with a grin, pleased that he got to send him away. 

Bella was sure, eventually, Edward would either cotton on to what was happening or end it if he already knew it was happening.

But that could wait because now she was spending time with the one being who was quickly becoming her favorite in the world. 

“I suppose that is a way to look at it.” He replied, the sun intensifying, making it near difficult to look directly at Aro.

As if knowing, he stepped a little closer, just in the shade of the trees.

It was something Bella lamented but didn’t know if she should bring up. After that first morning, when she thought he was going to kiss her multiple times, he kept his distance for the most part. He still held her hand while guiding her through the woods, but he would put a few feet between them. She had wondered if maybe it was because he feared losing control with her. She wondered if maybe he thought _she_ was afraid of him being that close. She didn’t dare ask either way.

Aro’s eyes darted about her as if trying to read something in her features. Eyes that were growing dark again, though she noticed he never allowed them to become black.

“You’re going to need to hunt today, aren’t you?” She asked him, and if Bella thought he could startle, she would say she startled Aro.

“Yes.” He said cautiously. “I’ll leave once you must begin your day.”

“Is it hard? Needing to go so far north?” She asked before looking up at the sky. “And it’s not a day for it, is it?

“No,” He replied, eyes also darting up. “I’ll need to find somewhere with cloud cover, if not wait until much later in the evening. And it’s not terribly difficult to travel away, to go to different towns and cities. It’s not much different than when I decide to hunt in Italy.”

The sun caught his skin again, and Bella was once more mesmerized.

“It’s time, _mia cara_.” He said regretfully.

Bella sighed, but he was in front of her fairly quickly, hand palm out for her to take.

“What are your weekend plans?” He asked conversationally, leading her over their regular path a touch more slowly than normal.

“A friend of mine wanted me to go to hers after school today.” She said, wishing it sounded more interesting. “And I’m supposed to meet with Jake tomorrow, to talk.”

“You worry you’ll upset him,” Aro said in understanding as if he could read her thoughts and worries. He’d moved his thumb over her hand, a soothing motion, maybe even supportive.

Bella smiled up at him, a bit in awe that he knew her so well despite lacking his normal means of gaining knowledge.

“I know I will.” She said with certainty. “He doesn’t want me to change, and I get it. Vampires are his natural enemy, and I would be one. It makes more sense than why Edward didn’t want me to become one, but… it still,” She huffed. “I need to be honest with him. About everything.”

“And you don’t feel the need to explain any of this to your father?” He asked casually, curiously. 

Bella looked to Aro, halting their progress. “If I tell dad I’m going to school in Italy, he’ll be sad. He’ll miss me. But I didn’t live with him my whole life, and my mom… she’s traveling with her husband. She won’t miss me. And after a bit, Charlie will get used to my not being around. I’ll call, for the first little while. And then,” She shrugged. “But Jake knows. He _knows_ what will have actually happened to me. He’ll know that I won’t be home for Christmases and holidays, not because it’s too expensive to travel, or because I have work to do, but because I can’t.”

Aro hummed in understanding. 

“You know you won’t change his mind.” He reminded gently.

“I know.” She nodded, heart aching as she added, “but there are things he needs to know. Things I should have told him before.”

Aro narrowed his eyes at her, then sighed, features softening. “You love him.”

The words felt like a knife to her chest, despite there being a degree of truth to them. It was from the way Aro said it, resigned and understanding. 

“He needs to know.” She nodded, squeezing Aro’s hand just as he seemed about to pull away. He wasn’t the only one he could read someone without hearing them. “And he needs to know that just because I do love him, doesn’t mean it would have made a difference.”

“Because of … Edward?” Aro hedged, but Bella heard how much he didn’t really believe that in his tone.

“At first? Yeah. But now? No. No, it wouldn’t have made a difference because it would never have been enough. It’s awful for me to say, but there would have always been a part of me that knew something was missing. Maybe someone, even if it wasn’t Edward.” She mused but sobered when she met Aro’s eyes.

They were wide, delight and hope and something terrifying in the very best way making those burgundy eyes bright.

“ _Come vorrei poterti dire cosa sei per me, mia cara. Come la tua anima parla alla mia, il mio cuore morto ti è sempre appartenuto*.”_ He murmured, and while Bella didn’t understand a word of what he said, she thought it might have been something pretty spectacular as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

She felt like a complete and total idiot for the way she swooned. She hated that her cheeks flooded with color in such a way that could never have hoped to pass it off for anything but what it was. Bella couldn’t look away from Aro, didn’t want to turn around and finish the journey back to the school even though the crowds were probably growing larger, and someone will notice her coming out of the woods.

Then there was the crack of a branch somewhere in the woods, breaking the spell.

As if on instinct, Aro let go of her hand and moved to put himself between her and whatever was there with them.

Heart pounding, Bella instinctively made herself small, tucking as much of herself behind Aro as she could. She grabbed the back of his jacket, bunching it before leaning her head against his shoulder blades and tried to quiet her breaths.

After a quick moment, Aro relaxed.

“It would seem you figured out our little rendezvous.” He said with annoyance.

Bella peeked around him just as Edward appeared.

“I suspected,” He confessed, eerily calm. Edward glanced upward. “We can’t attend today. I had thought maybe I could go watch over Charlie, give one of the others a break, at least after making sure Bella got to school alright.” He glanced at her, his eyes softening a moment before he looked back at Aro. “Esme told me you were already with her. And had been every day.”

“I should go,” Bella said, deciding instantly she didn’t want to be around for whatever was going to come next.

“Yes, you should,” Aro said not looking back at her, his tone unchanged from their earlier conversation, but his stance still rigid. 

Bella reached her hand up, placing it on his shoulder, her fingers grazing the fine, silk-like strands of his hair. He turned sharply, catching her hand once more in his, and smiled gently.

“Enjoy your time with your friends, Isabella.” He said, and for a quick moment, Bella almost questioned the change in how he addressed her. For the most part, if he wasn’t addressing her in whatever it was he said in Italian, he would call her Bella. Then she noted the slight smirk curling at his lips and the glint of mischief in his eyes.

“Right, I’m going now.” She said, gently taking her hand from his, her fingertip grazing his palm as she slid away.

Neither he nor Edward said anything as she left them in the woods, the sun too bright for them to risk getting too close. She emerged from the woods, noting there were a lot more people than normally was when she left Aro behind and hurried to her truck to get her stuff and start her day.

~AB~

Both vampires remained still until the second bell rang, announcing that class was in session.

“I require a hunt,” Aro told him flatly, turning to face the seething boy. “So make your thoughts known before I take them from you.”

“You wouldn’t-” Edward started to say, but never got to finish. 

One moment there was a good fifteen feet between them. The next Edward to the ground, Aro with a knee on his chest, one hand on Edward’s throat, the other pressed under Edward’s chin. The younger vampire hadn’t even had time to do more than start to lift his hands, Aro pouncing as the thought entered his mind, maybe even before he had fully thought it.

“Don’t imagine for a moment, Edward, that I wouldn’t.” Aro snarled at him as all of Edward’s thoughts and memories flooded in.

There was a plan in Edward’s mind that he’d been thinking of for a long while. It was still being pieced together, from what Aro could tell, but Edward was planning on implementing the early components quite soon.

It involved easing the fears and worries of Bella’s friends. To not hover quite as much, to show his affection in more quiet, subtle ways. To give her space when she wanted it, and to try and be a bit less intense. Some heard he was abusing her or had in the past, and he tried to be more friendly to them, showing them that he wasn’t what they thought he was. That he simply worried for Bella, and that he loved her.

He was going to offer to drive her out to the treaty line tomorrow, to show he could get along with Jacob Black, that he wasn’t going to keep Bella from him. Maybe even point out, once again, that changing meant letting go of Jacob altogether.

And then there was the rage from earlier, when Aro and Bella’s secret was revealed, at least to some degree.

_“He’s been here every morning,” Esme said with a smile, warm and bright. “The days Charlie has already left, Aro will go in through the back, they come out together. The days Charlie is still around, Bella slows down just past the house, next to the woods, and Aro will pop in the truck. She seems happy, they seem to be very good friends.”_

“You ran all the way here and picked up on her scent.” Aro tilted his head, amused as Edward attempted to struggle under his hold and very fine cracks began to form on his neck. 

Edward grunted, then relaxed. “You’re corrupting her.”

“How?” Aro asked conversationally. 

Edward gritted his teeth, but his thoughts were clear.

 _“You’re romanticizing our life,”_ Edward thought.

Aro purposely remembered all his conversations with Bella. How he was honest with her, how he didn’t hide the reality of life as a vampire. He made sure Edward noticed how calm and accepting she was, yet again, at the idea that he would have to leave Forks to hunt a human.

“ _Maybe she’s glad you’ll be gone.”_ Edward thought.

“Or, perhaps, she doesn’t bear the weight of self-hatred as you do.” He shot back. “Now, I must leave to hunt. I assume, since you’re here, you’ll watch the school. If it wasn’t your intention, if I so much as get a whiff of you following me I will not hesitate to rip your head from your shoulders and scatter your parts so you will have a long, slow, agonizing recovery. Do we have an understanding?”

Edward glared, but thought a distinct, _“Yes_.” 

“Good,” Aro said, easing up first on the chin, and then on the neck. He made sure Edward stayed down before turning north and taking off.

He was mildly disappointed when Edward made good on his word.

~AB~

“I really can’t thank you enough for helping me with these,” Angela told Bella as they sat on Angela’s bedroom floor surrounded by graduation announcements, envelopes, stamps, and a small stack of sheets with numerous addresses to be handwritten.

“It’s no problem,” Bella replied, a bit boggled by just how many of these things Angela was sending out. How much family did she have? Friends of family? When Angela had asked for help, Bella had sworn it was just as a way to get her to do something other than going home at the end of the day.

She picked up the nearest envelope and a pen and began writing out the first address.

They were moving along, Angela adding the return address after Bella finished her bit when she could sense Angela wanting to ask her something.

She glanced up at her friend, staring a moment until Angela met her eye. 

“Edward seems to be getting the hint.” Angela offered in way of conversation.

Bella snorted. “Seems that way.” She said, recalling his intrusion on her time with Aro in the morning. He _had_ seemed fairly accepting, but Bella had doubted that he truly was. She wouldn’t be terribly surprised to look out the window and see him in the woods at the edge of Angela’s yard.

Angela chewed her lip. “You’re not getting back together with him.” She stated with certainty, and Bella nodded. “We wondered,” Angela confessed. “Jess thought you already were, but I didn’t think. He hasn’t changed, but the way you act around him, you have.” 

Bella frowned, desperately wanting to talk to _someone_ who wasn’t a Cullen, who wasn’t a vampire or werewolf about what she was going through. At least, as much as she could. 

“Can you keep a secret?” Bella asked, and Angela nodded without a single spark of excitement or anticipation. Really, she appeared to be bracing for something devastating. “When I was gone for my interview… Alice ran into me. Edward was about to do something really stupid, and he was going to do it because he somehow heard I… it doesn’t matter what he heard, it wasn’t true. But Alice asked me to help her sorta talk some sense into him, and then…. I mean, I did it, of course, but as I was going to see him I realized I was … over him.”

Angela nodded patiently in understanding but remained silent.

Bella paused in the addressing of envelopes, tapping the pen against her thigh. 

“I hadn’t realized it. Not until I was right there, where he was, and I felt… nothing. Like, I wasn’t excited to see him, I wasn’t anything. And I realized I’d hurt Jacob, the guy from last week in the parking lot. He’s my best friend, and I-”

“Sorta like him now?” Angela asked with a knowing smirk, and Bella laughed as she blushed.

“Yeah. But not enough.” 

“How? How isn’t it enough?”

Bella met Angela’s eye again. “School is going to take forever. And I won’t be coming back for holidays and stuff. Too expensive.”

Angela frowned. “Really, too expensive to fly from Ala-” She cut herself off with a gasp as her eyes widened. “You _are_ going to Italy? Like, for real for sure?”

Bella smiled as she remembered Aro’s promise to be the one to change her. 

“Yeah,” She said. “For real for sure.” She repeated just before Angela launched herself at Bella and wrapped her in an excited embrace.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing!” She squealed. “Oh, Jess is going to be massively jealous. When did you find out?” 

“Early last week,” Bella told her as Angela let go and retreated back into her space. “I’m keeping it quiet. I haven’t told my dad yet. He wasn’t thrilled about Alaska, but when he hears that Italy will be Edward free….”

“He’ll be thrilled,” Angela agreed as she picked up another envelope and resumed their work. 

“Man, Edward’s going to lose it,” Angela said, half thrilled at the prospect and nervous at once. She darted her eyes to Bella, chewed her lip. “He seemed like he was massively jealous of that Jacob guy, what with the way he was looking at you, the way you stayed close to him.”

“Yeah,” Bella agreed, but not necessarily about Jacob. At least with his surprise visit to the school, Edward emoted. He got defensive. Bella recalled how calm he’d seemed in the woods that morning when he found her and Aro. Knowing how he’d been around the Volturi leader in the past, it was a terrifying change in character, and Bella had to fight the urge to find out if Aro was alright, if things were said. If Edward hadn’t somehow managed to convince him to leave Forks for longer than it took to hunt.

Seeming to sense that this wasn’t really a subject Bella wanted to discuss any longer, Angela smiled and said, “So Eric and I got our dorm assignments from U.W…..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *How I wish I could tell you what you are to me, my darling. How your soul speaks to mine, my dead heart having always belonged to you.
> 
> This is a lot shorter than normal, and shorter than I'd have liked, but I know it's been a bit since I posted (or it feels that way) so I thought I would offer this up. Originally I was going to have her conversation with Jake here, but it will keep for the next one.
> 
> thank you everyone for reading. Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

Aro had returned from his hunt after night had fallen. He had to go quite far north in order to find suitable weather for hunting, but even at a run, it took up most of his day. He’d gone by Bella’s home, once more greeting the wolves with his hands raised at his sides, and merely glanced at her window, seeing her passing by once before turning and heading to the Cullen house.

He might long to see her, talk to her, but it was not to be. He would not skulk, he was above such foolish ideas. He merely wanted to ensure she had returned home safely, and once he could see she was fine, he left.

He thought, perhaps, to reread _Jane Eyre,_ as it was the last book Isabella had been reading herself. He may have had perfect recall, but that didn’t guarantee he caught everything the first time he’d read it through. Plus, time can sometimes change a perspective, and while Aro doubted he’d see much difference in the tale, it was worth a second glance. 

The house, when he was near enough, was quiet. Not that that should be terribly out of the ordinary, being the home of a coven of vampires. But there were no clicking keys from typing or using a computer. There was no soft shuffle of movement from a board game. There was no sound of them doing anything, yet the lights were on despite them not needing them. He slowed as the house came into view, and he spotted most of the Cullens through the window, all unmoving.

Instinct told him they were waiting for him.

He wouldn’t keep them.

Entering the house, Aro would wager it was the first time any of them moved in some time. They all turned to him, Carlisle in concern, Edward with a subtly smug expression, Alice stoically, and the rest with concern and apprehension. 

“My friends,” He said with as warm a smile as he could muster. “Is there news? I know Isabella is relatively safe, I was just at her home a moment ago.”

“And the wolves let you live?” The blonde - Rosalie - asked with a frown.

“They’re quite familiar with me at this point, I’d wager.” He replied. “Seeing as I see Isabella every morning.”

“Aro,” Carlisle began, equally as cautious sounding as Aro. “Edward has laid some heavy accusations against you. That you nearly destroyed him earlier today.”

“Is that what he said?” Aro said, glancing at Edward, not needing to be able to see his thoughts to know the young man was just _begging_ for him to deny what happened in the woods. Aro narrowed his eye at him a moment before he turned to Carlisle and looked his old friend in the eye. “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t tempted. Nor will I deny I threatened to rip him apart. But I would not have destroyed him.” Aro said despite Edward’s scoff.

“You were about to rip my head from my neck.” Edward countered.

“If I wanted to rip your head off, I would have,” Aro promised, glaring at the younger vampire. 

“Why did you attack my son?” Carlisle asked, and Aro heard the sound of a vampire's fist grinding, gearing for a fight. The large one - Emmett - likely. 

“He was insolent,” Aro replied casually. 

“Your thoughts were loud.” Edward shot back. “I could hear them well over a mile away. And when I found you….” Edward grit his teeth, hands balled into fists at his side. 

If it wasn’t for the feeling that he was one wrong word choice away from causing a rift with the Cullens and possibly losing his standing in the truce with the shapeshifters, Aro would have found it more amusing. He couldn’t help the slight smirk that pulled at his lips.

“When you found me… what?” He asked the young man. “It’s hardly like we were wrapped up in a lover’s embrace.” More the pity that.

“Who?” Emmett asked softly but was shushed.

Edward glared at Aro. “Her heart was pounding.”

“What would you expect?” Aro asked, all humor and most of his patience gone. “Isabella and I have had those moments alone every morning for nearly a fortnight. We’d never been disturbed, and then this morning I hear a vampire, with no wind to carry the scent toward me. And is there not one, possibly two vampires poised to attack her? Is that not why we have a tenuous alliance with a natural enemy of ours? Understandably she was terrified of what was lurking in the forest, what I was set to protect her from.” He gestured to a tense Edward who had lost all his smugness. “But, back to the previous point. You said my thoughts were loud, which means you must have heard them. So, Edward, please. By all means, share what you heard. I’m not ashamed of them.”

Edward looked positively green, and if it were possible for a vampire to vomit, Aro was certain he would have. 

“Edward?” Carlisle prompted.

The young vampire moved his jaw about, then managed to say, “he admires her.”

It was so painfully obvious he wasn’t telling the whole truth that the others frowned and exchanged glances with one another.

“I suppose that’s a way of saying it.” Aro conceded.

“He thinks he loves her.” Edward corrected himself, voice rising.

“Ah, now we’re a bit closer to the truth of it all,” Aro said, tilting his head in agreement before moving deeper into the house. “Young Edward has a plan to win back Isabella’s affections.”

“Win back?” Esme asked in confusion, worry, and concern in her tone as well. She looked from Aro to Edward in question.

“It’s nothing,” Edward brushed off. “A misunderstanding.”

“She says you aren’t together.” Aro countered. “That there is no longer a courtship, nor does she desire to have one with you.”

“She just needs to see that I can be there for her.” Edward countered with determination. “It’s just a phase, she’ll see soon enough.”

“So if you two aren’t together, why are we protecting her?” Rosalie asked, and Aro’s gaze shot to hers. In a glance, she cowed, seeing the warning and rage in his eyes, he was sure.

“Rose, she’s family.” Carlisle chided gently. “Whether or not she and Edward are together, she’s still one of us. We made the mistake of leaving her once, we won’t do that again.” He then turned back to Aro, partly turned toward Edward, and appeared torn.

“My friend,” Aro said quietly.

Carlisle sighed, looked about to say something, then stopped, looking between Aro and his son hopelessly.

“Aro has never decided to hurt any of us,” Alice said from off to the side before skipping toward her coven leader - her father figure. She gave a guilty glance at the leader of the Volturi before turning back to Carlisle, shoulders squared. “I’ve been watching Aro’s decisions since we left Italy. I knew he decided to go investigate the situation in Seattle. I knew he decided to stay behind when the guard left, but I’m guessing he didn’t actually decide to find Bella.”

Aro smiled at her, nodding once.

Seemingly pleased, Alice continued. “I knew he decided to stay in Forks after finding her, and Bella has decided time and again to spend time with him. I knew Edward decided to go after them. Whatever happened after that was spur of the moment.”

“You knew?” Edward asked, sounding hurt.

“Edward,” Carlisle chastised, though he hadn’t turned toward the boy. Instead, he was frowning off to the side. 

“For what it’s worth,” Aro spoke, “I apologize for my rash actions. Not the words or the warnings, but for my lack of control.”

Carlisle nodded but didn’t look up. After a few seconds, he raised his head and looked between Aro and Edward.

“I understand that you both care for her, maybe even both love her. But the fact is, Edward, you did leave Bella last year. We all did, at your request.”

“But she-” Edward started to interrupt, but a hand raised in his direction from his father, his leader, silenced him. 

“We will forever be grateful that she went to you in Italy, she saved you from a rash decision that would have taken you away from us forever. But that doesn’t mean everything is forgiven.”

“I know, I’m trying,” Edward said plaintively. “But if he’s always monopolizing her time-”

“I don’t think he is.” Carlisle cut in gently. 

“He went to her tonight.” Edward pointed out.

“I went to ensure she was safe, for my own peace of mind.” Aro corrected. “She doesn’t even know I was there, and the wolves will attest to my being there only briefly.”

Carlisle smiled quickly, no more than a twitch of the lips before becoming serious once more. “It’s only fair that you both get an equal chance, for Bella’s sake.”

“How will that work?” Jasper asked, surprising everyone in the room. He crossed his arms, trying quite hard - it seemed- to not let on how amused he was. “Hardly like the leader of the Volturi can waltz into the school pretend to be a teacher or a student.”

“I don’t need to integrate myself into the local society,” Aro replied to the curly-haired man with the Southern drawl. “I’m sure I can continue to carve out time with Isabella as I have been.”

“I think she said Charlie had planned a weekend-long fishing trip,” Alice said cheerfully. “He’ll be on the reserve, but will be leaving much earlier than Bella intended to visit Jacob. Perhaps one of you could drive her to the treaty line, and the other could drive her back?” 

Aro glanced at Edward who was scowling at his sister. After a moment, he smirked and said. “I can agree to that.”

“As can I,” Aro replied.

“Family meeting over, then?” Emmett asked.

“Yes,” Carlisle said.

A moment later, Emmett and Rosalie disappeared, possibly to hunt, possibly just to get some privacy. Alice and her mate did the same a moment later, then Esme led Edward away as well.

Once alone, Carlisle came closer to Aro, bowing his head.

“Do you really think you love her?” He asked so silently it would be impossible for anyone else to have heard.

Aro looked his friend in the eye. “With my immortal life.”

~AB~

Bella let out an enormous groan -and perhaps even stomped her foot a little- when she saw the silver Volvo in the driveway.

She’d gotten a text from Alice late last night informing her that one of the Cullens would be there in the morning to take her to the treaty line, and someone would return for her later. She’d hoped for Alice if they were talking _strictly_ Cullens. Perhaps even Esme or Carlisle, Emmett. Jasper had handled being in a car with her, even. 

But it was Edward, and she supposed that it was bound to be him anyway. 

Needing nothing but her jacket, Bella grabbed it and went outside, thankful he couldn’t hear her overly petulant thoughts even as she gave him a tight, polite smile before getting into the passenger seat. 

When she closed the door and began to pull on the seat belt, she noticed him staring at her.

“Hi,” She blinked, finishing the motion of pulling on the belt.

“Hello,” he said softly, smiling. “How are you?”

“Alright,” Bella replied, glancing out the window at the tree line, waiting for the car to move. 

It didn’t.

“I missed you yesterday,” Edward said, making no move pull out of the driveway. 

“Thanks?” She replied, unsure what to say. 

It was amazing, really, that she would have once swooned and sighed, gone on and on about how she missed him too. Probably would have said that she was miserable, couldn’t bear it, couldn’t cope without him around. Hell, she once _hadn’t_ coped without him. Now she found it awkward to realize he hadn’t really crossed her mind all that much while he seemed to still look at her like she hung the stars.

“Umm.” She said, glancing behind her again. “I have to meet Jake.”

“Yeah,” Edward said, suddenly getting into gear and getting them on the road at a human speed. “So, what did you do yesterday?”

“I went to Angela’s.” She replied, eyes watching the passing trees only to realize a moment later that she was looking for Aro out of habit. She turned to face the road ahead of them, darting a polite glance in Edward’s direction. His eyes were intensely gold. “You went hunting, too.” She noted.

“Too?” Edward asked with a frown.

“Yeah, Aro had to yesterday.” She said casually. She very nearly asked if Aro had returned yet but stopped herself. Then she remembered what he had said no all that long ago, and took a deep breath. “Did he get back?”

“Yes,” Edward replied, a little clip to his voice. 

“Good.” She nodded, and then said, “Sorry. I know you don’t like him, was just curious.”

“Why do you spend time with him?” Edward asked curiously, eyes on the road while they narrowed.

“I like him.” She replied simply. “We talk about everything.”

“You mean he talks about being a vampire,” Edward said in a way that sounded like he was correcting her.

“Well, he answers the questions I have.” She replied. “But we’ve talked about other things. Like, did you know he was one of Shakespeare’s patrons? He’d seen every play the bard wrote when it was first presented on stage.”

“I didn’t know that,” Edward said with a quick dip of his head.

“ We spent one morning just debating if _Othella_ was superior to _Romeo and Juliet_ in regards to tragedy.”

“Italy is full of tragedy, isn’t it.”

“And beauty. I asked him where his favorite spot in Italy was and he described this place in the south, just outside of a winery. Aro said the smells are wonderful: fruit and the sea. One a clear night you can see all the thousands of stars, and-”

“And he’s gone there to murder someone for dinner?” Edward asked casually. 

Bella stopped talking and looked back out the window.

“You can’t deny-”

“I’m not.” She cut Edward off. “I know what he is, what he does. And yes, I suppose it is murder. But it’s hardly senseless.”

“No? Why?”

“How else is he going to survive?”

“How do we all survive?” Edward countered. 

“It was a choice you all made. What the Denalis made, and other covens around the world. But it’s not your natural food source, and while it doesn’t appear to have any long-lasting effects-”

“Oh, you’re an expert on vampires now?” Edward said, condescension dripping from his every word.

“I’m trying to be.” Bella countered firmly. “I have maybe three months before I’m turned. I want to have all the facts.”

“Why not ask him for more time?” Edward asked, gesturing more than normal. “You’re so smart, you could go to school, actually go for a year or two. Put it off. Maybe-”

“I don’t want to,” Bella said firmly, turning in her seat to face him more fully. “I don’t want to wait, I have a plan, and Aro will change me.”

“It doesn’t have to be him,” Edward said softly.

“No, it doesn’t.” Bella acknowledged.

After a moment Edward asked. “What if I changed you?”

She actually snickered at that. Turning back to face the road. 

“I’m serious,” Edward said, his tone reflecting the truth behind it. “I want to give you everything, Bella, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of eternity with you.”

“No, you don’t,” Bella said with certainty. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have left.”

Edward rounded the bend and came to a stop. 

Just on the other side of the unseen line was Jacob, standing next to his motorbike, only one helmet sitting on the seat.

Bella unbuckled as quickly as she could, but as she went to reach for the door, Edward’s hand shot out and covered hers. She looked over his shoulder and took in the pained grimace his face was contorted in.

“This didn’t go the way I hoped.” He admitted to her. 

“How did you want this to go?” She asked.

“I wanted…. I was going to ask for another chance at a proper date.”

Bella blinked, then laughed, it made Edward’s grimace more, though he masked it with a self-deprecating grin. 

He removed his hand, letting Bella open the door to the car and get out.

She all but ran for Jacob on the other side of the line and was pleased to see him smiling wide at her as she crossed it. When she neared, he opened his arms for her, and she gladly went.

“Bella!” Edward called, causing her to step back and away from Jacob. “About that date?”

“No.” She called back, grabbing the helmet on the back, and started putting it on.

“No… for now?” Edward called back as she and Jacob got on the bike. 

She didn’t answer, even though she knew he would hear her over the roar of the bike engine. She gave her reply, and unless Edward became a completely different person, the answer would remain.

 _Though,_ she thought as she held firmly to Jacob in front of her, _I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept trying._

~*~

He took her up to where they tested the bikes that were rebuilt, hers already there - ready and waiting.

“This our plan for the day, then?” Bella asked with a smirk, gesturing to the bike.

“Did you have something else in mind?” Jacob asked nervously, shifting from side to side as Bella took off her helmet. 

“I wanted to talk to you.” She said plainly, not bothering to beat around the bush. If things went poorly, she would hardly want to spend the rest of the day with him mopping. And if she waited, it was risking ruining a lovely day.

Jacob looked desperate to avoid the conversation but eventually sighed and relented. With a nod, he shifted over to one of the nearby rocks, thankfully not the one Bella nearly split her head open on not long ago. He sat against one of the flatter ones, and Bella joined him. She nervously rubbed her hands against her jeans, played with the sleeve of her jacket, and avoided looking at him.

“So,” He started, trying to sound casual. “The freaky one is going to change you.”

“Yeah,” Bella said, then cottoning on to how Jacob said it, added. “And Aro’s not freaky. He’s just… ancient.”

Jacob scoffed. “His eyes are-”

“I’m used to them.” She said with a shrug. “But my change… it’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“You could,” he hedged. “I mean, if you didn’t _want_ to, if you’re having second thoughts, you could stay here with us. With me?” 

She grinned. “I’ve gotta confession.” She said, peeking at him.

“Oh?” Jacob smirked.

Nerves roared back up through her, and Bella had to turn away. 

“Do you remember… when Edward called?” She asked carefully.

A beat. “You mean… when Charlie was with Sue, the others?”

“Yeah, when you pulled me out of the water, and we were back in the house? Just before the phone rang, and before that, in the truck?” She peeked up at him, and while he seemed relatively calm Bella could see the hope and excitement dancing in his eyes. It killed her that she was putting it there only to have to crush it. Taking a breath, she said. “You were going to kiss me, weren’t you?”

“I think we were going to kiss each other,” Jacob stated.

Bella chewed her lip but then nodded. “Yeah. By then, with the Cullens having been gone… I would have kissed you.”

He was trying so hard not to grin, but Bella could see it in the twitch of his lips and the sparkle in his eyes.

“You love me.” He finally said it was like a victory.

“Let’s….” Bella started, then stopped herself. “I mean, yeah. But….”

“But what?” Jacob asked, pushing off the rock and turning to look at her, lightly taking her shoulders in his hands. “Bella, I love you. I love you, and you love me, what is there-”

“I don’t… love you enough. That way.” She said as gently as she could. There wasn’t a way to sugar coat that truth, no matter how much she wanted to stop him from hurting.

“You don’t love me enough?” He asked skeptically.

She sighed, rubbing at her face before trying to find a way to explain it. She remembered what she’d said to Aro in the throne room a couple of months back, and how confident she was. Too bad that couldn’t be used in this situation.

“Look, Jake…. If the Cullens never came back, if Edward had kept his word and I never heard from him or the family again, there’s a pretty good chance that we…. I was falling in love with you. I didn’t want to, and I thought that was because of Edward, but it wasn’t. See, I … I didn’t realize it, but I actually loved the idea of being a vampire more than him. No, hear me out-” She stopped Jacob as he looked ready to lash out and interrupt. “It’s not like I want to go around drinking blood and hunting people. But I’m so uncoordinated like my body doesn’t fit right. And being with Aro? The Cullens? I feel like I belong in a way I don’t with anyone else, or anywhere else.”

“So why tell me at all?” Jacob asked in frustration.

“Because you deserved to know,” Bella replied a bit more forcefully than she needed to. “Because I… I don’t want to pretend you didn’t help me. That you didn’t give me something I needed when the Cullens left. That you aren’t my best friend, and if things went different, I would have….” She shrugged, shaking her head, not sure how to explain herself. She met Jacob’s eye again and had only a fraction of a second to register the squared shoulder determination before he launched himself at her and kissed her.

She was utterly taken aback, blinking rapidly as Jacob moved his lips against hers. 

It was so weird. So extremely weird to feel warm, soft, pliable lips against hers. Weird in a wrong way that wasn’t really wrong, just not for her. Would kissing a vampire as a vampire feel similar to this, just not as warm? 

Jacob pulled back, studying her face for Bella’s reaction, though she couldn’t have imagined there was anything to see.

“So if the Cullens were to leave tomorrow?” He asked softly.

“I would still go to Italy come summertime, and I would still be a vampire.” She told him flatly as he caressed her cheek.

“Even without Edward?” he asked.

She snickered. “Yeah, even without him.” She nodded.

“It’s what you want?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Jacob sighed and pulled out of her space. “I’m not going to stop hoping you’ll change your mind.” He said firmly. The pack knows it’s not meant to happen here, so long as it doesn’t…. But I’m not going to stop hoping, not until your heart stops beating.”

She nodded solemnly, not sure what else to say. Bella looked around, her eye-catching on the bike. 

Before she’d rode it to hear Edward, to see him. She’d been crazy, really, utterly delusional. Now she was ready to ride it for fun, real fun, and enjoy the experience.

She glanced back at Jacob and smirked. “Should we give those bikes a go, now, then? I’ve got a helmet this time at least.”

~*~

It had been a pretty damn good day.

Bella’s clothes had dirt and grass stains and probably reeked of smoke from the bonfire. She was fairly sure there were twigs and leaves in her hair, making her look more like she’d spent months in the woods instead of a few hours mucking about before joining a pack of wolves for dinner. 

She was pleasantly tired from head to toe and was absolutely certain she would be out not terribly long after getting to bed. 

“I can sense a vampire waiting at the line,” Jacob said as they neared it. “Was Edward supposed to pick you up?”

“I don’t know,” She admitted, apprehension heavy in her voice. She pulled out her phone and checked, but there was nothing there. She glanced at Jacob whose grip tightened on the steering wheel.

He slowed as the corner came, which allowed Bella to glimpse the black vehicle parked on the side, waiting.

She felt her face begin to split into a grin before she fully realized it was happening. And Jacob, having noticed, slowed his own car down to a stop, allowing Bella to get out.

She heard him follow, his door closing a second after hers.

There was no one next to the car, or in it. A blink, and then Aro was beside it.

Jacob had just started to say something, but Bella’s feet were already moving at a run.

She was halfway to Aro when her brain caught up to her.

 _What are you doing!?_ It demanded. _It’s hardly like you’re going to run into his arms._

And of course, that’s what she had been subconsciously planning to do. But that wouldn’t do because for one thing she likely smelled like a dog. The Cullens, especially Rosalie and Alice, complained of the smell. She likely would reek of that as much as the smoke without her realizing it. Another thing was that this was Aro, and while he was kind to her, polite, perhaps a bit dashing, it by no means meant that he returned this sort of shadow of a crush Bella only just realized she was experiencing.

She slowed down, but not fast enough, and came to a stumbling stop a few feet away from him. Her foot, of course, caught on the pavement. Before she hit the ground, however, those strong, cool hands had caught her by the waist, pulling her toward him in a more upright position. The action of falling forward had had her hands out in front of her to brace for the fall. Now those hands collided with his chest, and Bella looked up into his blood-red eyes and blushed.

“Right. Hi.” She said, trying not to be too terribly embarrassed and flustered and failing miserably at both. 

“ _Buona sera, mia cara,”_ Aro replied before wrinkling his nose.

“Yeah, I know, sorry. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here for me.”

Aro tilted his head, nose still a bit wrinkled, but the rest of his features smoothed out. “Edward didn’t tell you?”

“He was too busy asking her out on a date,” Jacob said behind them, his voice barely heard by Bella’s human ears, but she was sure Aro heard him clear as day.

Bella looked over her shoulder to where she left her friend. 

Jacob stood with his arms crossed, stance wide, observing. He seemed oddly curious like he was seeing something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Thanks, Jake.” She said easily, knowing he could hear her and not really wanting to shout. “For today, and everything.”

“No problem.” He said with a slight grin that was there and gone.

She looked back at Aro. “If you’d rather Jake drove me. The smell….”

“It’s fine, Bella,” Aro assured. “I just won’t attempt to breathe.” 

She laughed, bowing her head and putting it against his chest for just a quick second before she realized how terribly, grossly forward she was being and quickly pulled back.

She felt a hand lift from her waist, relocating to her hair where his fingers ran through the strands, pulling out a lead.

“I’m infinitely curious what you got up to.” He said as he turned the leaf over in his fingers.

“Well, Jake got me on the bikes again.” She started to say as Aro brought her around to her side of the car, his hand shifting to her lower back. He only pulled it away to open her door for her.

“Yes, I recall those from his memories. You hurt your head.”

“Not this time.” She said as he closed the door, then zipped around to the driver’s side. She turned to him as he got in, starting the engine. “I had a helmet. And I didn’t crash.”

“So the leaves?” Aro asked, glancing over her form. “And the general air of dishevelment?”

“I tripped a few times, walking through the woods and all. And I may have driven a bit too close to a tree.”

Aro shook his head, “You truly are _not_ meant to be a human. I’m infinitely intrigued to see how immortality will look on you.”

“I’m sure there will be improvements.” Bella agreed.

“Yes,” Aro nodded. “Though I must confess a part of me will miss requiring to catch you so often.”

“I meant more in the looks department.” Bella countered.

Aro hummed in displeasure. “There’s nothing to improve upon, _mia cara,_ merely enhance. As I’ve said, you seem to be born for the life of a vampire, and that means already being exquisite as a human.” He glanced at her. “I’ve made you uncomfortable, my apologies.”

Bella shook her head, “No. No, you didn’t. It’s just, well, I’ve seen the women in Volturi. And Rose, Alice, Esme? They’re all gorgeous. I’m-”

“Exquisite.” He repeated firmly, slowing down as they approached the house. “You see yourself as plain, I’m not sure I understand why. From what I’ve seen from Edward’s thoughts and memories, of Jacob’s, Alice’s you are quite admired.”

“It was only because I was new.” Bella shrugged. 

They pulled into her driveway, the house dark as Charlie was still away on his fishing trip. 

“I’m surprised the Cullens didn’t try and persuade you to return to their home,” Aro said as his eyes darted about their surroundings.

“That’s because Charlie wouldn’t allow it,” Bella told him. “Not with Edward around. I think he finally believes that I’m not with Edward anymore, but he’d be suspicious still.” 

Aro met her eye, “how I wish I could know what you thought.” He said wistfully. “What would make you think… how you were when no one was around.”

She bowed her head in shame. “I was a zombie. I didn’t do anything I didn’t have to do when he left. I was only really just becoming myself again when Alice brought me to Italy.” She shook her head, looking out the front windshield at the darkened house. “I was patching myself back together, and it sorta felt like maybe I was almost all fixed, but there was still this gaping hole in my heart.

“But I just… I was never like that, boy crazy, before coming here. I would never have allowed myself to be like that over anyone. Giving up everything, making them my world. I’d have done almost anything Edward asked of me. But something about being in Volterra, racing against the clock - literally - to try and save his life made me realize that that wasn’t who I really am, wasn’t what I really wanted.”

“Isabella,” He said her name with a quiet reverence. “Do you have any inclination what may have caused the shift? What might have changed your perspective?”

She met his eyes again and was mesmerized by hope and longing in red. 

She shook her head. “I don’t know, but I don’t regret it.” She swore, feeling she needed to without completely understanding why. 

“He’ll not rest,” Aro warned her gently. “I fear he won’t stop trying to win you back until you’ve turned.”

“Because he prefers me human?” She guessed, knowing Aro’s read Edward’s thoughts.

“Actually, I think Edward would only mourn the loss of your humanity in regards to what he believes would be your damnation. He would much prefer not to want to bite you as much as he wishes to embrace you. But once you’re changed, should you not be his mate, it will become entirely too clear.”

She furrowed her brow, and he giggled that wonderful, high giggle. 

“You have more questions.” He teased.

“Yeah, guess I do.” She said, looking at the house again. “Would you like to come in and answer them?”

He seemed to debate with himself. “Much as I would, I believe if I don’t return soon someone will come looking for me.”

“Monday, then?” Bella asked hopefully.

“Monday, _mia cara._ ” He said, making Bella smile. “Now, I don’t mean to be terribly rude, but you do-”

“Smell like a wet dog. Yeah.” She laughed, moving to get out of the car. He was out and around as she opened the door, helping her out as was his way. 

She remembered her earlier kiss with Jacob, and as she did Bella’s eyes fell to Aro’s lips. She recalled wondering if kissing a vampire as a vampire would be something similar in warmth. She wondered if-

Nope! Nope, that was just, nope. Bad idea, terrible, horrible. Unless….

“Goodnight, Bella.” He said, pulling her from her thoughts, bringing her hand to his lips, and placing a lingering kiss on her knuckles. 

“Night,” She managed to say, walking backward for a few steps before she tripped a little. Then she turned around and headed for the door, stumbling again, making Aro giggle in delight. She refused to look, refused to let him know she heard him, and was even a little embarrassed by her lack of coordination. 

Bella went inside and locked the doors, knowing that it wouldn’t keep any vampires out, but was still a placebo for her peace of mind. She went upstairs, peeking out her window, seeing two figures in the woods - a pair of Cullens, likely, though she wasn’t sure who - and then closed her curtains. After a moment, and as quietly as possible given how she knew they could hear her, she allowed herself the long-overdue swoon, collapsing backward on her bed while lightly clutching the hand Aro had kissed.

Alright, so she had a crush on him. A big one. An infatuation, really, if she allowed herself to look at the facts and see them for what they were. And while part of her brain, a small part, screamed that this was Edward all over again, Bella knew it wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going to get to the more battle ready bits in the coming chapters.  
> Thanks for reading. Until then.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said last time there would be more action in this one, and instead we get more slow burn. I miscalculated. Oops.

The following morning found Aro in a new sort of hell: watching the house with Edward.

Alice and Jasper had been watching overnight, allowing the wolves to have their night - the same one Isabella had participated in to a point - and have a much-needed rest among them. But when morning dawned, the pair were to be relieved, and it would appear that it had come to their turn on the rotation.

Edward stared at the closed bedroom window, the curtains drawn like he was willing the thing to open for him. 

“I realized it’s been a very long time, but I do believe humans tend to still be asleep at this hour,” Aro remarked as the sun rose higher in the sky, breaking over the horizon.

“Bella isn’t usually,” Edward said, and as if on cue the first sounds of stirring from inside the house reached their ears. “See? She’s awake.” He pointed out, starting to move before Aro darted his hand out and caught Edward’s arm. 

The younger vampire scowled.

“If she wants you there, she’ll let you know,” Aro said simply before letting go. 

Edward moved his arm as if he was to shake off the phantom feel of Aro’s touch, then looked at the house again.

Aro glanced toward it, recalling Isabella’s invitation the night before without really meaning to. Or, perhaps, he subconsciously did.

Edward growled.

“Is there a problem?” Aro asked casually.

“How it is that she’s so… receptive of you.” Edward gritted out.

 _“I’m fairly certain you already know the answer.”_ Aro thought as he watched the house, hearing Isabella moving about in the kitchen.

Edward scoffed. “She doesn’t care for you that way. Bella loves me, she’s always loved me.”

“And you think that can’t change?” Aro asked. “She’s still human, after all, much more prone to it than you or I.”

“What we have? It’s forever.” Edward said with certainty.

“You truly believe her to be your mate? Even as she constantly rejects your advances?” 

“She’s angry, as she should be,” Edward said quietly. “I did something that should take time to forgive. I just need her to trust me again.” He sighed. 

After a bit, the sounds in the kitchen faded, and more quiet and muffled sounds came from within. The sun shifted, and Aro looked at the forest around them, eyeing it critically. It allowed for cover for their kind, a place to linger, wait. Watch.

“Do you wonder?” He asked without looking at Edward, “Why the vampire we are unsure of happened to be in the house when it was conveniently empty? Isabella, her father, neither were around when the intruder snuck in. They were all over the house, we could smell them in every room, and yet they left before anyone returned. We’d have known if they were still nearby, you’d have heard their thoughts.”

“It is strange,” Edward conceded, and Aro turned to the young man, meeting his eye. “We know that he was likely there _for_ Bella.”

“So why not stay?” Aro asked. 

Before either could elaborate, there was a sound from the house, a door closing, that had them both turning to see what was happening. 

Isabella had come outside, a blanket draped over her arm, a book tucked to her side. She was walking toward them with purpose, though she wasn’t looking at either of them.

Edward’s hope was so palatable that Aro hardly needed Jasper’s gift to feel it himself.

When she was close enough, Bella met Aro’s eye and smiled. “Thought I wouldn’t see you again until tomorrow.”

“It’s hardly like this was intended to be a social visit.” He countered, and she bowed her head to chuckle.

“Yeah, well, figured it didn’t matter where I was if you were going to be watching me all the same.” She said as she shifted her hold on things to grab the blanket.

“Allow me,” Aro offered, taking the blanket and laying it out.

“Thanks,” She replied with a blush, getting down on it and sighing as she stretched out.

“Reading for class?” Edward asked with a besotted smile.

Isabella glanced up at him as if she only just realized he was there. “No.” She replied simply before opening her book.

“ _Le Fantome de l’Opera,_ ” Aro said as he glanced at the book in Isabella’s hand. 

“Worth reading?” She asked with a smirk.

“More so in its native language,” Aro replied, and in a move that surprised even him to some degree, sat down on the blanket beside her, just in the shadows where the sun wouldn’t hit so directly if at all. “Did you know it was inspired by real events?”

“Like, actually real? Or just rumors?” Bella asked, turning on her side to look at him.

Aro grinned, “He was a vampire, his deformity was caused by scars brought on by fighting other vampires, not entirely unlike Jasper.”

“What happened to him?” Edward asked curiously.

Aro sighed. “We had to destroy him.” He said regretfully, remembering the events. “He drew far too much attention to himself. Hunting in one place repeatedly. It’s only luck that he never told his soprano what he was and that it’s likely she never concluded. She disappeared anyway, not long after.”

“That’s horrible,” Isabella said softly, and Aro met her eyes. “Makes the story all the more tragic.”

“You’ve read it before?” Aro asked, and Bella shrugged. 

“Before I moved here.” She said. “I always sort of preferred the older stories. And I always felt bad that she didn’t stay with him, seemed unfair.”

“And now that you know the truth behind the tale?”

“Doesn’t change much,” Isabella confessed. “Did you meet him?”

“How else would I know he never told the girl?” He asked her. 

Bella nodded, looked at the book as if she wasn’t sure she still wanted to read it, then repositioned herself and focused on it. Aro watched her, fighting the urge to brush the strands of her hair away from her face, to see if he could make her smile or her eyes dance from the action. 

At once Edward was on the blanked as well, his hand following the exact path Aro had briefly imagined. All the while he smiled down at Isabella, but when she looked up at Edward, she frowned.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Edward replied, his grin becoming a bit lovelorn. 

Isabella frowned then turned, flopping on her back and holding the book above her head.

It didn’t take long before she flopped back with a huff.

“A perk of being immortal will be never having to find a comfortable position for reading,” Aro remarked with a smirk.

Isabella got on her knees, shifting about. “’Cause I could read standing on my head?” She quipped.

“If you’d like,” He agreed, glancing at Edward who glared back at him. “Oh, come now, Edward. You can’t honestly say there hasn’t been a time when you were grateful for the fact that you never fatigue.”

“I’m just not sure you’re painting a realistic picture of what will happen when Bella’s changed. She’s not going to be in the mood for much reading during at least the first year.

“It differs from change to change,” Isabella said as she absently set the book down, then removed her zippered sweater. As she folded it, she said, “I might not be terribly bothered.”

Edward scoffed as Isabella set the folded sweater behind her and rested her head against it. “Is that what Aro told you?”

She scowled back. “Yes.” She said firmly, leaving it at that.

Aro met Edward’s eyes over Isabella’s head, and the golden-eyed boy shook his head as if to say “incredible.”

They remained silent for some time, with only Isabella’s breathing and page turning, her steady heart, for noise. The forest around them was quiet and likely has been for some time given the recurrence of predators as of late. It was surprisingly pleasant, something Aro couldn’t possibly have expected. 

In Italy, where the sun was a far more frequent affair than here in this area of the United States, it meant being inside more than not. The heat from the sun didn’t have much effect, it didn’t warm them like it would a human, nor did it hold any benefits. But it was missed, on occasion. As was the fresh air, where the tastes held something new with almost every breath. Aro hadn’t realized he was starting to feel dusty, aged even, before his venture here. 

So often when minor inconveniences happened, he would send the guard to investigate, which is probably how the rumors of his never leaving the castle without his guards came about. But why travel anywhere to end an uprising in newborns, to settle squabbles between covens, when those of the guard could handle it just as well. There was always someone going to the Volturi, to ask permission for this or that, to seek favor, perhaps even join them from time to time. Caius was too cruel, too black and white in his thinking. Marcus was barely more than a figurehead most days. Which meant it fell to Aro to make the final decision. His gift helped to understand, of course, but he had better reasoning than Caius. He often missed when Marcus was of a mind to help.

He’d been lost in his musing and didn’t realize the sun had intensified, not until he felt a delicate touch against his hand, far warmer than what he was used to, and absent of any thoughts.

Isabella.

He glanced down to see her lightly running her finger over the edge of his hand, along his pinky, mesmerized but the way the light hit his skin.

“There’s a car slowing down on the road,” Edward said, causing Isabella to pull her hand away to look at him.

“Probably Charlie,” She said. “He was supposed to come back this afternoon.”

“Why don’t you come to the house,” Edward suggested as he and Aro moved to stand. The boy gave quite a charming smile, a boyish shrug. “It’s been a while, Esme would love it. And Alice.”

Isabella cast her eyes down as she considered it.

“I guess, She finally said with a nod. “Just… yeah. I’ll go. Later, though. I want to talk to Charlie first.”

“Alright,” Edward said as a car door shut at the front of the house.

Aro and Edward retreated into the woods, keeping just out of sight.

“Bells?” Her father called.

“Back here,” She called, closing her book and getting up. She collected the blanket with little fanfare, part of it dragging along the grass as she headed toward the house.

“She’s going to trip,” Edward said with fond exasperation.

“I have no doubt.” Aro agreed just seconds before she did, in fact, trip on the blanket though blessedly didn’t fall.

~AB~

Bella was nervous as she went upstairs to drop off the blanket and retrieve something absolutely vital for talking to Charlie. She wasn’t sure when Alice had placed the very official-looking envelope on Bella’s desk, but she noticed it when she woke that morning. An insane amount of work was put in to make the ruse believable from when Bella checked out, and it was what made her want to go to the Cullen house when Edward suggested it. She needed to thank Alice for everything.

Taking the manila envelope downstairs, she found her father at the kitchen table, the case file for Riley Biers sitting off to the side, only partly open, having not been looked at since at least Friday night. At least until now, it seemed Charlie had been considering looking at it before Bella came in.

“Was thinking pizza tonight.” He said as she sat down in the chair next to his.

“Pizza sounds great.” She said, then braced herself. “Listen, dad.”

“Yeah,” He frowned.

“I have news.”

Charlie sat up straighter. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like where this is going?”

“’Cause I don’t know if you will.” She said, trying to smile but it came across as more of a grimace. “Do you remember when I took off?”

“Yes,” Charlie said pointedly as if Bella somehow forgot it was only a couple of months ago.

“And you remember it was for an interview? For a school?” 

“Yes,” Charlie dragged the word out, frowning.

Bella reached into the envelope and pulled out the small bundle.

“Volterra University?” He said as he read the header, then scanned the contents. His eyes widened “You got into a school in Italy?” He asked with disbelief.

“Yeah,” She smirked. “It’s very… exclusive.”

“And you got a scholarship to boot?” He noted, that edge of disbelief growing. “You never mentioned any of this.”

“Didn’t think I’d get in,” Bella said with a breathy chuckle. “I, um… I applied on a whim. Turns out the admissions board really likes me. Liked that I asked questions.”

She thought if Aro was still in the woods with Edward listening, that he’d probably get a bit of a kick out of all this.

“So you’re going to study art.” Charlie said as he looked over the rest of the papers, “and history. Languages. Bella, what…? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m proud. Like, really proud. But I’m a little lost. Italy, that’s….”

“I know, it’s pretty far.” She agreed, nodding. “But they don’t just let anyone in. And I mean, yeah, it means not being around for holidays but it will be so worth it.” She promised, feeling it in her soul. 

Charlie still seemed unsure, looking at everything. “Suppose Edward will be going, too.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Actually, no. He’s going to Alaska.”

Charlie’s head shot up at that. “Oh?” He asked, trying to sound neutral but didn’t quite land. “Well, space. Distance. It’s a good thing.” He agreed. “Just… wow, Bells. Italy!” Then with a chuckle, added, “Suppose Pizza’s a good way to celebrate that.” 

She laughed, and when Charlie went to hug her, she allowed it. It was quick, to the point, and then they were back in their own spaces.

“Alice invited me to their place this afternoon.” She said after a moment. 

“Alright,” Charlie said, the dubiousness back in his tone. 

“I’ll be back for dinner, promise.” She said as she stood, leaving the papers and envelope on the table. Her eye caught on the poster of Riley, and she frowned.

“How long has he been missing now?”

“It will be a year in July,” Charlie said with a sigh. “He went missing in Seattle, and his folks… they’ve been papering anywhere and everywhere with these, hoping to find him.” He said gesturing to the flyer on the table. 

Bella looked at the papers, recalling that Aro had been in Seattle because of a new vampire situation.

“Do you think they should give up?” She asked, her mind already determining the two likeliest scenarios as to why Riley hadn’t been found. It made a lot of missing persons cases make a lot of sense.

“I wouldn’t,” Charlie said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “If it were you? I’d never give up. Never ever.”

Bella smiled, but it felt heavy with sadness. She should try and keep in touch with Charlie for at least a little while after the change. Write letters if her voice is too strange, anything to keep him from going absolutely mad trying to figure out what happened.

~*~

She left the house a little while later, getting in the truck, and started to head to the Cullen house. 

Not terribly far from the house, the passenger side door opened and closed quickly, and she turned to smile only to have to fall at who her stow away was.

“Aro is watching the house,” Edward explained.

“Right,” Bella nodded, “because someone needs to. In case Victoria or someone else comes along.” 

“Exactly,” Edward said warmly.

Bella drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, trying hard not to be too disappointed. 

She hoped that this was just Edward being a bit ham-fisted. That Aro had wanted to avoid her after her absent-mindedness outside earlier. 

He was just so beautiful. All vampires were, of course, which was something she loathed and envied in equal parts. But after being around Edward more than all the others, and knowing how much he hated what he was, Aro was that much more breathtaking. He wore what he was well, he didn’t shy from sunlight, trying to avoid it, he didn’t sneer at his skin when the light caught it. It had Bella longing to reach out and touch the icy skin, marvel at the crystal beneath her fingertip. 

Aro may have allowed her touch countless times, but it had felt more intimate at that moment. Not just a touch from fascination or from politeness, but with part of her heart behind it, that intense infatuation that was bordering on something more causing her to reach out.

The drive to the Cullens was short from her being so inside her own head. Edward, at least, attempted nothing.

She had barely had the truck parked when Alice emerged from the house with a big, excited grin that Bella couldn’t help but return.

“Thank you.” She said emphatically, moving to Alice and giving the petite vampire a hug. “Thank you so much.”

“It was _nothing._ ” Alice assured happily.

“Nothing?” Bella snickered as she leaned back. “You made a website. Like, a really convincing website. I knew it was fake and I was still nearly believing it.”

“You’re the one who made up the school,” Edward stated like Alice had committed a heavy betrayal.

“Bella will need a cover story, and since she chose Italy to be the place she’ll change, it’s better this way.”

“I really can’t thank you enough.” Bella insisted.

“You don’t have to. I could see how much easier it would be for you to tell Charlie. Your telling him about an interview for a school helped.” Alice then took Bella’s hand and skipped at a human pace toward the house, allowing Bella to keep pace easily enough. “I’m glad you’re here, you can help me with the party. I haven’t been to a human party, and I’m going to need the human perspective to make sure it’s as normal as possible.”

They entered the house, the television on in the living room, Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett watching the news.

Curious as the Cullens didn’t often watch television outside of sports matches to Bella’s knowledge, she ventured into the room, staying near the back. Alice was beside her, and a moment later Edward was, too. A hand on her arm, trying to encourage her away.

“Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances,” The reporter on the TV announced, the location listed under their name stating they were reporting live from Seattle.

“It’s getting worse,” Carlisle stated. “We’re going to have to do something.”

“Isn’t-” Bella started, only to stop as all the vampires instantly turned their attention to her. “Aro, he was here with the Volturi to watch newborns.”

Jasper nodded. “It’s what it is, alright.” He said. “But if the Volturi _did_ give them a warning, they didn’t take it.”

“There’s nothing to say that it wasn’t them who started it,” Edward said.

“It’s not.” Bella scowled up at him.

“Bella, just because you think you can trust him-”

“It wasn’t the Volturi.” Alice cut in. “I saw his decision to come here to see it, remember? Aro should know, though.” She added with a gesture to the TV.

Carlisle nodded. “It may be that he’ll want to call the guard back in, put a stop to it.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Emmett asked, smirking as though the idea of taking on an army of newborns was just too good to pass up.

“I think they were created to fight someone,” Jasper said. “Probably us, given how close they are.”

“Which only makes me that much more suspicious-” Edward started, stopping as Alice reached around Bella to smack him.

“Carlisle?” Aro’s voice cut through the room, coming through a speaker. Bella turned her attention to Carlisle who held his expensive smartphone out, clearly on speaker for her benefit as it was hardly like the rest of the room would need it to hear him.

“Aro, the situation in Seattle is getting worse,” Carlisle told him. “News reports are saying gangs or serial killers.”

A growl came from the phone. “I would prefer to get in contact with Felix while I’m with you to find out how the message was given and received. It is possible that they placated the guard.” 

Edward scoffed but said nothing.

“In the meantime, I’ll remain here. Isabella’s father is sleeping, I believe, if the grizzly sound coming from in the house is anything to go by.”

Bella snickered, then giggled, muffling it with her hand.

“I’m pleased to have amused you, _mia cara._ ” Aro said, and Bella was fairly certain Carlisle startled. Jasper certainly raised an eyebrow in question to Bella, possibly more to the spike of endorphins or whatever else went into an infatuation that shot through her at the assumed endearment.

“Are there sports on?” She asked.

“I believe there is something along those lines,” Aro said. Then, far more sober, said, “We’ll discuss the matter further upon my return when the wolves come to release me.”

“Until then,” Carlisle said, hanging up the phone.

“Well,” Alice said. “Shall we go plan?” She asked Bella, her gold eyes sparkling gleefully.

“Yeah, absolutely.” She agreed, allowing Alice to guide her away.

~*~  
  


Bella was in her room after dinner studying for her finals coming that week. 

Alice had stayed true to the plan of having Bella help her map out the Cullens’ first-ever graduation party. She kept the conversation quite firmly in that territory, only shifting when she asked about some of the classmates she knew Bella was friends with, what their plans were, etc. 

Edward had accompanied her back but seemed to know that whatever he wanted to say, or maybe planned to say, would be pointless. He left the truck before Bella neared the house, probably to run alongside it, and that had been that.

It made talking with Charlie over what happened at the Cullen house all that easier, as the omissions were minimal, and it seemed as though he actually liked Alice. 

But dinner was done, leftovers packed away and dishes washed. She had no interest in the game Charlie planned to watch, and since there wasn’t much else to do, Bella studied. There wasn’t much she forgot, if at all. Nothing that reading the question on the exam wouldn’t cause her to recall. It amazed her, really, how much she actually paid attention in those months of … whatever it was she went through. 

Still, it was boring. Bella’s mind kept wandering to the blanket outside earlier in the day. Trying not to remember how much she had actually wanted to lean against Aro, rest her head on his leg. How she wished it was just them.

Closing her eyes, Bella tried to reign herself in. She was doing it again, being an idiot over a male. Imagining that she was missing him like there was an ache in her chest because he wasn’t with her. Which was _stupid_ , and would lead her down a road not too dissimilar to the one she wandered down when the Cullens left. 

Well, maybe not _that_ bad. 

Edward's metaphor of her being his oddly specific drug made just for him had sprung to mind. She was his drug, and he was probably hers. And instead of being slowly weaned off him, she was forced to quit cold turkey. It was like she had gone through withdrawal, and now she was sober. Clear and level headed. 

Except when it came to Aro. 

Only he wasn’t an addiction. He didn’t leave her feeling strung out, he left her feeling stronger. Confident. He was comfort, a safe haven in a storm. He didn’t hide things or dim them to try and make her comfortable. He told her whole truths and allowed her to face them because he knew she could handle them. Aro didn’t keep anything from her.

Bella was just about to pick up her _Phantom of the Opera_ book to read instead of study when her phone rang. 

Reaching for it where it sat on the nightstand, she grabbed it and frowned as she noted it was Alice

“Hello?”

“Good evening, Bella.” Aro’s voice came through the speaker, catching her by surprise. But his voice wasn’t lilting or teasing. It was more like how he spoke in the throne room, serious and regal. “Since this conversation will likely affect you in some way, I thought it important you heard it.”

~AB~

Edward glared and shook his head, the only one adamantly opposed to including Bella in the conversation they were about to have. 

Aro ignored him.

He dialed Felix’s number, then put the phone on speaker immediately next to Alice’s that connected them to Isabella. 

It rang twice.

“Master.” Felix greeted stoically.

“ _Auguri amico mio. Spero che tutto vada bene.”_

“ _Si,”_ Felix replied evenly.

“Excellent,” Aro replied. “I’m calling in regards to the situation in Seattle.”

“Do you need us to return?” Felix asked.

“No, not as of yet.” Aro dismissed. “I do want to know about the directive I left you. How was the warning received?”

“The leader didn’t seem to know who we were,” Felix confessed. “Nor did he really seem to care. When presented with their possible destruction, the leader simply said that we would thank them when they were finished. Jane… warned them, but I’m uncertain if the message was received.”

“Did they mention why we would thank them?” Aro asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to imagine what the scene might have looked liked. He lamented not being able to simply see and hear all Felix had witnessed, to simply _know_. 

“No,” Felix replied regretfully. Then added. “Master Caius has been growing impatient for your return.”

“Tell him simply that I’m still needed here,” Aro replied. “Has there been anything, in particular, he wants me there for?”

“No, master. All is well.” 

“Good. Thank you, Felix.” The call disconnected, and Aro turned to Carlisle. “Someone wants your coven destroyed.”

“We’ve only had the one conflict since coming here,” Carlisle replied. “Victoria.”

“She continues to make an appearance,” Jasper said the posture of a soldier as he relayed the information. “But no further sign of the intruder.”

“So it is likely that she’s trying to distract you. But would it be from the newborns in Seattle, or from the one who entered Isabella’s home?” Aro thought aloud.

“I can’t say for certain,” Alice said as if he’d asked her directly. “She hasn’t made a decision regarding either, but that doesn’t mean very much. She could be allowing someone to make them for her, or she doesn’t allow herself to be firm with them.”

“You destroyed her mate, that’s why she wants Isabella, isn’t it?” Aro asked Edward. “Revenge?”

“It wasn’t just me,” Edward confessed. “Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle helped, but since it was me that James had taunted.”

“I would like to recall her face, if I may,” Aro asked, holding his hand out to Edward.

Edward looked at it but made no move to touch it. 

Aro smirked. “Are you afraid I’ll see all the ways you attempted and failed at gaining Isabella’s interest since I had my hand around your neck on Friday?”

“Maybe I just don’t want you to see all the ways I would like to return the favor.” Edward countered, and his boldness made Aro giggle in delight.

Before he could offer a chance for Edward to prove his metal, Alice took Aro’s hand.

He was flooded with memories, visions of things that hadn’t happened could happen, did happen. Nothing solid enough for him to take a peek at, but that wasn’t what he was most interested in. Alice helped, focusing on Victoria’s face and thinking about it over and over again.

“Thank you, Alice,” Aro replied, placing his other hand over Alice’s and bowing over it in gratitude before letting go. “I knew her. Once.”

“You did?” Isabella’s voice came from the phone.

“Indeed.” He said. “Though I suppose to say ‘knew’ is a bit misleading. More like I encountered her. She was part of a coven in Germany, all-female. I believe they may have been succubus, but it’s been a long time. There were rumors, and I had gone to investigate. The outcome was… not as I wanted. After the demise of their leader, I believe it was this Victoria that told the others to run. She fled, and it was her decision to do so that had her as the only surviving member of the coven with one exception. Heidi, who became part of my guard.”

“You let her go,” Edward stated.

“Yes,” Aro replied.

“So all this could have been prevented-”

“If I’d killed her all that time ago?” Aro interrupted Edward. “Yes, I suppose. But tell me, Edward, is it better for your moral compass if I had simply slaughtered her and her entire former coven because I wanted one vampire?”

Edward stared at him a long moment, his eyes glittering like a victory.

“Do you hear this, Bella?” Edward asked. “Do you hear how the vampire you supposedly trust so much is willing to wipe out an entire coven to get what he wants? How little regard he has for his own kind, let alone human life.”

A small part of Aro quite nearly killed the boy then, regardless if it proved his short-sighted theory correct. But the larger part of Aro merely remained as unaffected as possible. He waited, like everyone else in the room, for Isabella to give her verdict. 

It took a painfully long time for Isabella to say, “If the newborns attack you, or if you all have to go there to stop them, wouldn’t it be the same thing? Maybe not because you want one person, but because there are no other alternatives?”

Edward shook his head. “Maybe so, but it’s a last resort, not the first.” He said to the phone before looking Aro in the eye, victory still assured in his eyes, though Aro didn’t know what he’d thought he won.

“We’ve already covered the entire southern peninsula down to the treaty line,” Jasper said, mercifully getting them back on track, possibly from reading the room in a way that Aro couldn’t hope to. 

And so it went.

~*~

It was hours later after the various Cullens had gone off to do what they wished during the night, that Aro found himself on the balcony, looking out over the forest, wondering if Edward’s words held weight to Isabella after all. She’d been terribly quiet for the rest of the conversation, and simply said goodnight when they let her go.

It ached to think the way he’d been in the past, the decisions he’d made, may affect how his mate viewed him now. Perhaps, despite his hopes, she would only see him as Sulpicia often did: power-hungry, vicious, cold. He was glad to never hear her thoughts because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to see all that trust built, all the connection they’d seemed to gain, tossed aside because Edward shone an unflattering light on a half exposed truth. Even if the whole of it wasn’t pleasant.

It was sometime in the earliest hours of the new day, when the moon was still high and the sky still dark, that his phone pinged.

He withdrew it from his pocket, expecting something from Felix about Caius and his irritation toward Aro. But then, Felix would call if it was enough to warrant contact.

Instead, Aro was oddly surprised to see Isabella’s abbreviated name on his screen, indicating she’d sent him a message. He didn’t have her number and had no idea how it would have gotten into his phone, but he was hardly concerned with that now. Not when the message simply said:

_Can you come to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Greetings, my friend. I hope all is well.
> 
> Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Bella had opened the window as soon as she sent the text message, and waited on the sill. She was sure without a shadow of a doubt that Aro would come to her.

She hadn’t been able to get to sleep. Her mind was reeling with the idea that this man who she was terribly infatuated with, that she was beginning to think she was possibly falling in love with, could do something so awful. She’d been diplomatic at the time, but Edward’s words had hit their mark, whether she wanted them to or not. 

Bella just wanted to understand, and Aro had always been forthright with her. She doubted very much he would start to lie to her now.

A few minutes later she heard a shuffle from the woods, a low growl. Tensing, she looked around the tree line, trying to see the wolves and what they had spotted.

A moment later, Aro was beneath her window, and a second after that, he was in the tree beside it.

“Isabella.” He said softly, cautiously. Was he nervous?

“I wanted to talk to you.” She told him.

He nodded, then glanced around. “Do you still hold any trust for me after what you heard earlier?” He asked her. 

“Would it surprise you if I said yes?” She asked in return.

“It would,” He confessed, his features softening more than what they were already. He held out his hand. “Allow me to bring you somewhere we can talk that’s not your bedroom.”

She wondered what his aversion to being in her home was, but it was so low on her list of curiosities that she brushed it aside. Taking his hand, she swung her feet onto the sill, ducked out the window, and allowed Aro to pull her toward him.

It should have been a thrill, having his arms wrapped around her, holding her in a sort of embrace before jumping down to the ground below. When he adjusted his hold, scooping up her legs and carrying her bridal style toward the tree line, she should have wanted to bury herself in his chest instead of merely holding his shoulder for support and turning her head away to avoid branches and twigs to the face. 

Aro hadn’t taken her far, just into the woods a short way from the house. He picked a spot with a tree stump that would serve as a stool should she wish to sit, and soft pine needles and old leaves littering the forest floor as if he took into consideration her bare feet. She doubted it, but it was the perfect spot nonetheless.

He set Bella on her feet, ensuring she was steady before taking a step back, providing her distance.

She looked into his red eyes, then dropped her gaze to his chest. Aro had yet to change back into the fully buttoned form she’d seen him in Italy. There was always something soft beneath his jacket - a sweater or t-shirt - and that same jacket was a little less finely tailored, more suited for running through the woods on a hunt. But the V with the crest and red stones remained ever-present, a golden reminder of who he was.

“Did you… did you really destroy a whole coven for one vampire?” She asked, meeting his eyes again.

“Yes.” He said unapologetically, holding her eye unflinching.

“Why?” Bella asked him.

“Because I wanted her as part of my guard.” He stated. “I wanted her to work for us, be part of us. I had her loyalty bound to us, as I have had to for many, with the help of Chelsea. That is her power, you see.”

“So you brought her over against her will?” She asked the first-ever pit of fear in regards to Aro forming in her stomach.

He closed his eyes and seemed to take a breath. He waited until he was looking her in the eye again before he answered. “Heidi did not come to us against her will. But… yes, some have. In the past. Chelsea’s power is used to strengthen or weaken ties between people. There are exceptions, of course. Bonds between mates, bonds between families - covens that truly see each other as and feel like family - cannot be weakened. I have used her assistance in the past to sever the ties in covens, and bind those wanted vampires to us.”

Bella nodded, taking this in.

“So what was it about Heidi, why did you want her?”

“She was charming.” He replied. “Her charisma, it draws people in. She’s the one who brings us tourists, and she is the one that lures people into Volterra, for it seems even her words over distance holds thrall.”

“So you went there just for her? To… collect her?” Bella asked, trying to understand, wrap her head around what she heard.

“No, Bella.” He said, shaking his head. “I do ‘collect’ powered vampires, I will not deny that. A wise ruler knows to keep power close, as well as loyal. But I had gone to investigate the coven. I had found her among them.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Bella asked, sitting down on the stump. She crossed her legs, tucking her feet under her legs as best she could, and wrapped her arms around herself.

Aro hesitated, and for a moment she thought it would be the first time he denied her answers. Instead, he slipped his jacket off, then cautiously draped it around her shoulders. 

“It won’t be terribly warm to start,” He said apologetically before backing out of her space. “In regards to the situation involving Heidi and Victoria,” He changed the topic, making sure she was looking him in the eye before he continued. “I’m sure you heard me mention earlier when speaking with the Cullens, that there was the belief that they were succubus. Not a crime in itself, but it does tend to cause rumors among the humans. Covens who grow too big come under suspicion and are often watched. Even the Cullens were under scrutiny for a few decades, but their lifestyle - the drinking of animals and frequent movement - means that no one suspects much of them. This coven had grown fairly large for the time, and their feeds conspicuous. Too many men dead of the same methods, many of wealth or power, others of ill repute.” He frowned, glancing away for just a moment. “I met with their leader, Hilda.”

“You touched her hand,” Bella said, nodding encouragingly.

“I did.” He agreed. “I could see in her mind she had bigger ideas. She didn’t like that we were there because they drew attention. She didn’t like that she and her daughters had to be hidden. She’d been in communication with the Romanians.”

“Who?” Bella asked.

“The previous governing body of the vampire world,” Aro explained. “We usurped them when we came to power. They didn’t tend to believe in staying hidden. But that’s not here nor there,” Aro waved it off. “It’s a story for another time. This, I believe, is something that should be addressed now.”

“Alright,” Bella said as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of Aro’s jacket.

“Hilda was essentially plotting treason. Before she even got a whiff of my interest in Heidi, her abilities, she wanted the Volturi gone. She’d have been more than happy to cause a scene, have her daughters fight against my guard. I had her destroyed for it before anything could be done.

“Victoria told the rest of her coven to run, but they didn’t listen. All but two attacked, and they were destroyed for their efforts. Heidi surrendered, as did another. Anne, I believe her name was. But I guess there must have been some slight in-coven rivalry because Heidi had charmed one of my guards into killing the other. It was asked if we should pursue Victoria, but I let her go. I saw no need to slaughter her if she had it in her mind to escape. She did not want to fight, did not want to join, and from what I could see in the coven leader’s mind, did nothing that would require punishment.

“Do you regret it?” Bella asked.

“Not destroying her? Only in that she now wishes to harm you.”

Bella nodded, not exactly liking how she felt a bit warmed by the answer. But it was honest. It wasn’t wrapped to look pretty, he didn’t attempt to paint himself in a better light.

“What about the coven? I mean, I get the leader, I guess. If she was going to try and, I dunno, take you all out. I mean, I don’t get what it’s like to live among you, not yet, not completely. But, it seems logical, having someone at the head of things. And no one’s told me any law that seems ludicrous, or impossible to uphold. But the coven? Do you… wish you hadn’t?” 

“No. Theirs was not a death I regret. There have been some over the years that I have.”

“Like?”

“Didyme. She will forever be my most regretted. But she was not a death I have regretted in which I have directly commanded it. There was one in Japan, back in the 1700s. A coven that had been formed of newborns, and left to fend for themselves. I regret not taking the time to teach them. There was a man before that, just after the way in which humans marked time had changed. He’d upset Caius, and I didn’t find out until after I ordered his death that it was merely due to an insult. Sasha, the mother of those the Cullens think of as cousins, though it wasn’t because I acted rashly.”

“Why hers, then?” Bella asked, bringing the jacket more snuggly around herself, getting to her feet, standing closer to him than she had earlier.

“She was an excellent coven leader,” Aro explained. “She was of the belief that our world _ought_ to have laws, just as any world should. While she did not always agree with our… collective talents, she believed we’d have been better than some of the alternatives.”

“Why was she killed, then?” 

“Because she created an immortal child.” 

“Alright.” Bella frowned, ducking her head as she tried to remember if she recalled any such thing in her vampire research. She felt Aro’s hand touch her cheek, and she met his eye again.

“Immortal children, Isabella, are those who are turned when they are far too young to understand, frozen forever with the mind of a small child. A tantrum would wipe out whole villages. I’m in a unique position to understand why one would attempt to change a child. Anyone who creates one must die as well as the child, for the child should never have been created, and the vampire knew they shouldn’t have done so.”

“You’ve had to kill children?” She asked.

“Immortal children are different from human children.” He said, taking his hand off her cheek. “Human children can grow, learn, change. Immortal children can not. They can never learn, never develop, in the way they need to. Being a vampire is not an innocent life, Isabella.”

“We’re back to Isabella again?” She asked, reaching for his hand and managing to grasp it.

“Bella,” He said softly, caressing the Ls of her name in his voice. She feared she misheard the longing, the admiration in his tone, even if she recalled hearing it only the night before in his car. 

Aro took her hand more firmly in his own, wrapping his other around it as he brought them up to rest against his chest over the spot where his heart used to beat.

“Those who create immortal children usually do it to try and soothe some sort of parental instinct. Maybe that they had children of their own prior to change that they never got the chance to finish raising, that they didn’t want to let go of. Some, it’s forming an attachment to a child they’d see regularly. Only once was it meant to cause destruction. But all of them knew precisely what they were doing when they created the child. None of them were an accident.”

“Why did you spare the rest of the Denali coven?” She asked though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

“I saw in their minds they were innocent. They knew nothing.” He told her, confirming her suspicions. 

She nodded, hiding her smile by stepping forward and pressing her forehead to his chest, next to where their joined hands rested. As she closed her eyes, Aro brought one hand down, wrapping his arm around her waist while shifting his grip to cover her hand where it now laid on his chest. Bella shifted her free hand to rest against the arm wrapped around her, and breathed deep. 

Something _did_ shift then, deep within her. It wasn’t earth-shattering or shaking, it didn’t tilt anything on its axis, it had no mind-blowing effect. But she felt it, a pain-free fix to a dislocation she didn’t know she’d been walking around with. The understanding that the feeling she always got during the holidays, in her happiest times, wasn’t scented with pine or cedar but with cypress. It stirred images of snow-covered dawns when the sun was just cresting the horizon, and the sky was a bluish-green before it would inevitably shift to that shade of blue it only ever achieved in winter. 

“Thank you,” she said against the fabric of his shirt. “For telling me the truth.”

“I’m not always a good man, _mia cara_ , but I will endeavor to be when it comes to you.” He swore to her, and she leaned back to look him in the eye again.

“Why?” She asked. “What makes me so special? What has you, and Edward, and Jake just…?”

“I can’t speak for them.” He told her. “Not properly. But to me, _mia cara, tu sei la metà migliore della mia anima, il mio cuore manca, la casa non ho mai avuto. Sei un regalo che non merito.*_ ”

“You know I don’t speak Italian, right?” She asked knowingly as she closed her eyes. Her body felt too small to contain the sheer joy those words she had no understanding of stirred within. She was teetering on the edge of falling all over again, and she just knew the rush would be like cliff jumping just before the choppy waters tried to claim her.

“I do.” He replied when she opened her eyes. “I use it to give voice to what you bring about in me, Isabella. All the things I fear you won’t want to hear. At least not from me.”

“Shut up,” She said, shaking her head before getting on her toes and pressing her lips to his.

 _Oh!_

Something else shifted something that held a terrifying certainty. Something that shoved her bodily from the edge into that terrifying free fall.

Bella pulled back and looked up at Aro’s face.

His eyes were closed, his face relaxed. Soft, delighted, and edge of something animalistic in the very best way. And she did that.

Unable to bear looking into his eyes when he would finally deign to open them, she laid her head against his chest, cheek to sternum. She shut her own, breathed deep, and relaxed all the more when his hand uncovered hers, and he held her lightly against him.

~AB~

Bliss. 

Euphoria. 

His soul igniting, screaming, and begging for more. His dead heart aching to beat, to hammer, to soar. The urge to claim, and mark, and take. He wanted. He needed. He’d tear the world apart and watch it burn if Isabella Swan asked him to make it happen. He would renounce his throne, drink deer, do whatever would please her. He would toss himself into the fire gladly if she wanted it. He understood why Caius had locked his wife away in a tower, only to visit her on occasion, and yet Aro couldn’t fathom how he was going to willingly part from the perfect creature in his arms when she would need to go about her human life.

All this from nothing more than a simple, chaste kiss.

What would have happened if she had made to give him more? What sort of animal would be released if she had parted her lips, sighed or gasped instead of giving a quiet hum of surprise. What if she’d licked? The wolves would probably think he was trying to kill her, he’d probably be dead before he had a chance to do more than destroy a tree or two in his haste to find a horizontal surface in which to lay her down on. 

Bella had surprised him, a great feat indeed. He had thought she would press her forehead to his, maybe brush her nose along his, but a kiss was unexpected. 

He would not push for more, he would not seek them out. Aro had an understanding of Edward’s fear of losing control. He couldn’t recall ever being quite so feral in all his long life. But he didn’t fear hurting Isabella, he feared accidentally initiating the change. A misplaced nip of teeth in the heat of passion would be all it took. 

But if she freely gave her affection, he would take it. Every touch, every kiss, every bit of it, if she gave, he would accept it like the treasure it was. A gift from his queen.

Ah, his queen. She had heard him, listened to everything he said, and while he could tell she didn’t condone his past actions, she seemed to understand them. She didn’t turn away from him as some had before her. She, instead, stepped closer to him, allowed him to take her in his arms. 

And she stayed there, her feet on his to keep off the forest floor, her body wrapped in his jacket, and her head on his chest.

He sensed her starting to go limp in his arms, her breathing evening out. The sun would not be due up for hours yet, and humans needed sleep, the poor things.

He opened his eyes, glancing down to confirm his suspicions, and smiled. Sound asleep.

Shifting one arm, he scooped her up again like he’d done to bring her to this spot, just inside the hearing range of the wolves, but far enough away to give them the illusion of privacy.

She grumbled, then turned her head more toward him, trying to bury herself deeper in the stone of his body.

It was all so terribly endearing.

Despite his vows to himself to not stalk into her room, Aro leaped up inside the still-open window. He didn’t spare a moment to look around, to take in this sanctuary of his love’s. Instead, he laid her down in her bed, placing the blanket over her, leaving his jacket around her body so when she wakes she would know she hadn’t dreamt of their encounter. 

He wanted her to remember everything. Not just their kiss, but also their conversation. For her to keep that understanding she seemed to gain. That meant more than anything.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, my darling.” He whispered softly, brushing her hair from her face before darting out the window and disappearing into the trees, heading back to the Cullen house to wait out the remainder of the night.

He returned to the balcony, looking out over the same woods he had earlier, but feeling infinitely lighter. 

When he heard the door behind him shift, he braced himself for Edward. But then the wind caught the vampire’s scent and was pleased to find Alice at his side.

She grinned slyly up at him. “So things with Bella worked out.” She said as casually as she seemed able to.

“They had,” He agreed. “But I must say that this is quite surprising. Your family seems to be on Edward’s side of things.” Then realizing no one had attempted to rip his head off, frowned. “Where are they all?”

“They left after the phone call, but you were probably too in your head to really notice. Only Jazz and I stayed behind, mostly so if someone unexpectedly came back early, he could calm them. And I could see.”

Aro nodded. “Still, your support is… interesting.”

“I love Bella like a sister,” Alice said simply. “And I want her happy. Edward,” She sighed. “I warned him. As best I could without letting him know too much. I warned him when we were leaving Italy that he had to try harder, make an effort because Bella was set. You helped her make the decision to become one of us with or without our involvement.”

Aro hummed in agreement.

“I hadn’t realized _why_ though.” She confessed. “Not until you showed up here. When you decided to stay in Forks, to seek her out? I saw that future of her with you in the Volturi throne room that much more clearly. I’ve not even considered thinking about it near Edward. Usually, I find myself reciting Shakespeare or countless fashion designs.”

“Your thoughts did seem a bit… odd.” He conceded, “But I’ve seen much stranger over my long life.”

Alice snickered a moment. “I’m on your side,” She said as she became serious again, “Because you need Bella as much as she needs you. You’re giving her the answers that Edward didn’t want us to, because he hoped if she didn’t know, she wouldn’t want this life after a while. You’re giving her what she wants. And probably what she needs. And in return, she’ll make you a better leader for our kind.”

Aro arched a brow, intrigued. Holding out his hand, he asked, “May I see?”

Alice shook her head. “Foresight isn’t always a gift.” She said cautiously. “And I’m trying not to think about it too much. If I don’t look at it too closely, neither you nor Edward will get a clear sense of it.”

“You intrigue me.” He smiled, withdrawing his hand, and clasping it with the other in front of him. “I suppose there is no way to ask you to join me in Volterra, is there? You and your mate?”

“I think I would serve better as a proxy,” Alice replied confidently, and Aro couldn’t help but giggle.

“Yes, perhaps you would.” He conceded, looking out to the forest, the sounds of rustling still a ways off but carrying with the wind. “I must confess that it’s nice to have someone in my corner, as it were. Carlisle may be my friend, but he wants so desperately for Edward to have someone that he wants to indulge him. And I fear after what was said this evening the rest of your family will view me only with distrust, what with having three gifted among you.”

“You’re here alone, with no guard.” Alice shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you who made the decision if it was a strangely unified one without any discussion or someone who knows exactly what they’d do. But if you tried, they’d have given you over to the wolves, and if asked, would play innocent seeing as how there wouldn’t be anyone left to know for sure if they were lying.”

“Which would, of course, allow Edward to win young Bella’s heart.” He noted.

“It still wouldn’t have happened,” Alice said quietly.

Seconds later, Carlisle, Esme, and Edward were on the balcony with them.

“Did you move at all, Aro?” Carlisle asked with a slightly teasing tone.

“I had,” he replied with a nod, giving a smile to Carlisle and Esme as they went inside.

Edward narrowed his eyes, looking Aro over, but said nothing. 

_~AB~_

Bella had been minorly disoriented when she woke up, having no idea she’d fallen asleep, let alone how she got back in her bed. But Aro’s jacket carrying his smell surrounded her, and her window was still open, so it wasn’t terribly hard to conclude that he’d brought her back.

She’d gotten showered and dressed, putting the jacket back on over her shirt so she wouldn’t forget to return it as much as it was to keep the scent of cypress nearby.

Bella went into the kitchen, grabbed a granola bar, then turned and stopped at her father’s scrutinizing look.

“That is a man’s jacket.” He said casually and calmly.

“Yeah, I borrowed it from Alice yesterday when I spilled soda on my sweater.” She said with complete ease, the lie right there without her even needing to think about it. “Must be Jaspers.”

“Right,” Charlie said, seemingly not believing her, but not having proof otherwise. “Graduation in a week. Finals now. How you feeling?”

“Confident,” Bella said, this time not lying an iota. “You going to be around for dinner tonight?”

“I should be.” He said cautiously.

“Great,” Bella replied, moving past him for the door. “See ya later,” She called before darting out and getting into the truck. She unwrapped her granola bar, keeping it in her mouth while she turned the ignition, then bit off a mouthful, awkwardly holding it while she put the truck in reverse. She repeated the bar in mouth maneuver to switch gears again, and when she was on the road resumed her one-handed eating.

She barely cleared the house when the truck door opened and closed.

“Forgive me, _mia cara_ ,” Aro said in way of greeting. “But given your general lack of coordination should you really be consuming food and driving at the same time?”

Bella forced herself not to smile. “I’m not that bad.” She assured, and if the steering wheel wobbled a little as she went to put the last bite in her mouth, Aro wisely said nothing. After she managed to swallow it down, not terribly long before they arrived at the school, she asked, “I thought you wouldn’t go in my room?”

“And how do you think your father would react to realizing you spent the night outside?”

“Probably only slightly better than finding me in a strange man’s jacket.” She countered.

“He didn’t know you slept in it.”

“How do _you_ know?”

“Because, my dear, I had heard the conversation you had with him this morning. I’m certain if he’d spotted you with it earlier, he’d have asked many more questions.”

Bella pulled into the school lot, parked, and cut the engine. She turned, looking at Aro for the first time since the night before, and found she was at a loss of what to say. 

She must have stared at him for about a minute before he asked, “Are you alright, _mia cara?”_

Bella blushed. “Yeah.” She said, deciding it was best not to address the kiss in the woods, and let things happen as they do.

A beat later, he was out of the truck, at her door opening it for her. Same as always, there to help her out of the truck. And as always, she allowed him to help her.

“I do apologize for not waking you before returning you to your room.” He said as he held her hand while walking her to the woods. “I hadn’t realized it would make things easier.”

“Well,” She said, a slight bob of her head to the side. “To be fair, if you did wake me up, I’d have probably insisted on climbing back in my own window. Respect your not entering my room thing. But then I’d probably have fallen, broken my arm. Or neck.”

He chuckled. “I suppose you would have.” He conceded as they went deeper into the woods where they always met. He glanced around. “What do you plan to do after your formal education is complete?”

Bella let go of his hand to sit down on her log. “I’d thought I’d go to Italy and get a drastic makeover.” She replied.

“We have discussed this, _mia cara,_ “Aro said, the eye roll he didn’t give evident in his voice. “You’ll just appear otherworldly. Anyone who knows you would wonder what was different, but never be able to put their finger on it.”

“You mean besides the blood-red eyes?” She smirked.

Aro smiled softly. “Yes, aside from that. But I meant prior to Italy. I believed we agreed to allow you to the end of the summer. It’s only the beginning of it.”

Bella’s visceral reaction was to say she didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want to leave him, didn’t want him to leave her. But she shoved that down deep into the recesses of her soul and told her firmly to stay there. She was not going to throw herself at him, was not going to cling. One, brief kiss in the woods would not make her into yet another simpering fool. Not again.

“I’ll probably see my mom.” She reasoned. “The Cullens gave me a plane ticket for my birthday last year to see her. I haven’t used it yet.”

“I recall,” Aro nodded and then surprised her by joining her by the log. “Edward keeps thinking to use the companion ticket.”

“I was actually beginning to wonder if I should bring Jake.” She confessed.

“I think that would be a wise choice.” Aro agreed, eyes scanning the trees.

“You do?”

“Yes,” Aro said plainly, turning his attention to her. “You’ll need protection, and that’s not something any of our kind can give you there. My understanding is that Florida is rather sunny, and a bit too hot for layers.”

“Yeah,” Bella nodded.

“Jacob, despite his unfortunate circumstances of birth, seems a young man of decent character. A bit brash, I think, and stubborn. But I admire those traits in him if I’m honest. He knows where the line is to be drawn.” She recalled the kiss Jacob sprang on her, and it must have shown because Aro narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Or is the young man less chivalrous than his thoughts had me believe? I know he’s had fantasies-”

“Stop, please,” Bella asked, lifting a hand as if to stay the words. She couldn’t help but smile at his delighted giggle, and she could nearly picture an eternity of this. “He… kissed me. When I saw him on the weekend and I told him.”

“I can’t say I blame the young man,” Aro said, his smile lingering. 

She didn’t know what to say to that, so she bowed her head, pressing it to his shoulder.

“I want to thank you.” He said seriously, getting her full attention. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but he hardly seemed unhappy. “I feared Edward’s words would hold weight.”

“I can’t say I… condone what you did.” She said carefully. “There were probably a lot of innocent vampires that were destroyed. And I know you don’t regret all of them. But… you could have turned me while we were there. You could have used that vampire - Chelsea? - to make Edward and Alice want to stay with you. I know you said she can’t affect family bonds, but still, you could have tried. But you didn’t. If you were the man Edward tried to make you out to be, you would have done that, or just destroyed us all. You’re not perfect, and I’m not saying any of what you did was right or forgivable. But it’s not my place to forgive you or absolve you of it. It’s done, it’s in the past. None of us can change it. All you can do is just… not do it now?”

“It is not that simple, Isabella.” He said evenly. 

“It’s not simple not to destroy a whole coven for one person?” She countered.

“Ah,” he said, “ _Errore mio_. I hadn’t meant that point. I more or less meant the destruction of a coven in general.”

Bella had sort of meant that, too. But then, she remembered the newborns in Seattle. The likelihood that they were created to destroy the Cullens, and how they were planning to do exactly what she was about to ask Aro not to do again. How they destroyed James, and once they found Victoria, it would be the same thing.

“I think I understand.” She said, meeting his eyes. “And you don’t need to thank me. I wanted to hear your side of things. You already told me so much more about the life I’m going into than Edward has. I feel like I can trust you, and I didn’t want anything to taint that.”

“I’m hoping that, given what happened, that your trust has not been tainted?” He asked cautiously, brushing her hair behind her ear

“Yeah.” She nodded, smiling shyly as she leaned into his touch against her cheek.

There was a rustle in the trees that had Bella nearly groan if it wasn’t for the fact that Aro was smiling.

She turned to see not only Edward but Alice and Jasper as well. 

Alice was all smiles while Edward tried to hide his scowl, and Jasper seemed to barely be able to contain his amusement.

“Good morning,” Alice chirped before practically skipping over to sit next to Bella. “Only a week or so to go! Are you excited to _finally_ be finished high school?” 

Bella snickered, “I’d ask the same of you, but….”

“One gets used to it,” Jasper said in a way that said he hadn’t gotten used to it at all. 

Alice gave him a half-hearted glare before she turned back to Bella. “If you go to the reservation this weekend, you should ask the younger wolves to come to the party.”

Edward shifted closer to the trio on the log, crossing his arms. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Bella asked. “I mean, I suppose the smell might be a bit much. But you guys have a truce, right?”

“Exactly,” Alice said emphatically. “And we’ve been getting on relatively well.”

“I’ve yet to have an issue with them.” Aro conceded. “And as I was saying to Bella not long ago, the one called Jacob is not the bad sort.”

“But if something were to make the wolves angry, not all of them have control over themselves.” Edward tried to reason. “One could transform, exposing themselves as well as us.”

“If that were to occur, I suppose it will be a variable feast for someone like me,” Aro commented, and Bella unthinkingly smacked his chest.

A stone-like body wasn’t all that unlike a stone or brick wall, and the effects of hitting her hand so carelessly against it were pretty much the same as said wall. 

“Ah, fuck!” She cried out, hissing through her teeth as she went between clutching her hand and shaking her hand out.

“Are you alright?” Edward asked, startling her out of most of the pain by suddenly being on his knees in front of her, examining her hand. “You might have broken it, we should get it checked out.” 

“It’s fine,” Bella said, trying to pull her hand away but finding Edward’s hold on it too strong. “I’ll be bruised, but fine.”

“I’d feel better if Carlisle had a look.” Edward insisted.

“Edward,” Aro said tightly. “I believe she said she was fine.”

“And you’re suddenly the authority on all things Bella?” Edward countered.

“No, I am,” Bella said firmly. “And _I_ said I was fine. Let go.”

Edward did so, at least looking a little chagrined as he did. 

“People are arriving,” Alice said. 

“Might look odd if we all come outta the woods together,” Jasper noted. 

“Bella and I will leave first,” Edward said as he stood up. “She’s been walking here for a couple weeks, no one will think it odd.” 

Bella sighed, then stood, glad Edward at least had the decency to step back and give her some space. She took a deep breath through her nose, catching the fading smell of the jacket and reminding her she still had it. Smiling lightly, she shrugged it off, turning to Aro who had stood as well. 

“Thanks,” She said as she handed it to him.

“Think nothing of it.” He said, brushing a hand over her arm. “But what will you do? Humans, I believe, might still require an extra layer this time of year.”

“I have a sweater in my bag.” She said, gesturing with her head in the general direction of her truck. “Won’t smell as nice.” 

“Bella,” Edward said impatiently.

She huffed, glancing in his direction before meeting Aro’s bemused gaze. She very nearly got on her toes and kissed him again, but since the most forward gesture he’d made had been a brush of the arm, she refrained. 

“I’ll see you later?” She asked instead.

“You will,” Alice assured behind them, and Aro nodded as his grin only grew.

Reluctantly, Bella stepped away and headed to the school, Edward trailing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *my darling, you are the better half of my soul, my missing heart, the home i never had. You are a gift I do not deserve.
> 
> I'm a whole chapter ahead! Which is why this update is coming very early. I *think* it's another 2-ish chapters before we start seeing the start of the battle. I know where I would like the story past the events of Eclipse to go, but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it all one story, or have a sequel. 
> 
> Until next time.


	12. Chapter 12

He’d gone and hunted while she was in class, heading south as the weather was more in his favor than north. He’d found himself a bit of a two for one deal in a vial situation that he happened upon. The man, if he could be called that, was taken care of quickly. The victim had been too far gone for anything to have been done anyway. After cleaning up, Aro had returned to the forest and sent a message to Isabella to let her know he was there should she wish to join him. 

While he waited, for he hoped she would want to join him when she was free, he reflected on the evening before.

To think about Bella would be too much of a distraction, so instead, he focused on the plans he and the Cullens had made. They would wait until after those in the coven still attending school would have graduated (for at least the dozenth time if the collection of graduation caps were any indication). Once free from a set schedule that may have people wondering where they’d disappeared to, they would go to Seattle to take care of the newborns. And if it was this Victoria that made them, to lure the Cullens away from Forks - and possibly leave Bella unprotected - they would leave her with the wolves as a precaution. Once the newborns were taken care of, it was only a matter of finding and stopping her before she managed to plot another scheme.

In the distance, Aro heard the bell of the school ring. How could the younger Cullens repeat this life over and over again he could never know. Vampires might not bend to change well, and most of them might have been frozen as older teenagers, but the monotony of it all had to have them feeling dusty. Stagnant. And while he had virtually no memory of his own years at that age, Jane and Alec being younger than the Cullens had reminded Aro constantly over the years that teenagers could be trying at the best of times.

He listened to the distant sounds of the students leaving, hearts beating at various speeds, the quiet hum off chatter. Engines to various vehicles started and faded, the general hum off it all ebbing and flowing.

Then the longed-for sound of twigs breaking and leaves crushing. Of a heart he’d grown accustomed to, and the amusing chorus of curses and grumbles that heralded Isabella’s return to him.

He was at her side as soon as he was sure that no one from the school would see her.

She yelped, then let out a nervous laugh. “Hi,” She said after a moment.

“Hello,” He greeted, amused. “And how was your day?”

Bella shrugged, “Finals.” She said as if that explained everything. “I don’t have anything tomorrow or Wednesday, so I guess I’ll have some time to study.”

“How enthralling,” He deadpanned and was rewarded with another laugh. “And your hand?” He asked, taking said hand and noting the bruising on her knuckles 

She glanced at it, shrugging. “Fine. I’ve had worse.” She said, absently brushing her fingers along his palm. “I can’t stay long, Charlie will be expecting me soon.”

“Of course,” Aro conceded, disappointed but understanding. 

“What did you do today?” She asked.

“Hunted,” He admitted. “And not a terrible lot else.”

She frowned. “It hasn’t been that long.”

“No,” He agreed. “But knowing that we've a plan now, and knowing well enough that it usually means things will go awry, I wish to be prepared.”

She nodded, though if she was unsettled by the idea, she didn’t let on.

“I should probably get going. Walk with me?” She asked after a beat. “At least to the truck. Maybe….”

“I’ll stay at your side for as long as possible.” He said, guiding her back toward the now-empty parking lot. 

They stopped beside her vehicle, where she seemed hesitant to say what was on her mind.

“Bella,” Aro said softly, getting her to peek up at him through her lashes. 

“After the newborns are… how long are you going to be here?”

Aro sighed. “I don’t know, _mia cara_. I want to say I will be here until you’re ready to go to Italy. But, as it is, I’ve already been gone for quite a while. At least, a while compared to other trips, especially without any of the guard. And I believe that once the newborns are taken care of, my return would be expected immediately.”

“So we only have a week or so left together?” She asked, her thumb running along the back of his hand.

“For the time being.” He agreed. 

She nodded, then laughed mirthlessly. “It’s stupid that I don’t want you to go.” She said as she shook her head, looking at anything but him. “It’s ridiculous, and I hate it. I hate that I already miss you. And I can’t even say it’s because I hardly know you, because I do. Maybe not, like, all of you. But I’ve seen enough of your facets to get an idea. I just hate that I already know I’m going to be miserable without you around.”

Aro should have let it lie. But he’d never been very good at self-restraint when it comes to something he wants, nor was he ever terribly shy about expressing it. 

“I missed you the moment you left my throne room.” He confessed, treading carefully along the line of passion and honesty, soul-bearing and stating a fact. Edward was overbearing, too intense, too much for Bella’s human sensibilities. She didn’t need a confession of undying love and devotion, at least that’s what Aro would wager. “And I will miss you again when I leave you here.”

Bella sighed, not wistfully but relieved. 

Without another word, she turned to her truck and opened the door. Aro held it for her, closing it when she was settled, then joined her in the cab.

They were silent as she drove, but it was comfortable. It wasn’t long, however, before he needed to leave her again. 

One moment closer to their parting ways for a couple of months.

She slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road despite her not needing to. When she put the truck in park, Aro frowned.

“What is it?” He asked her.

Bella licked her lips, and for a moment he eagerly anticipated feeling her lips again. 

“Would it be… weird… if I called? When you go back, I mean? Or text you? Is that weird?” She asked, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

“Yes,” He smirked. “But I will anticipate it nonetheless.” 

“Good,” She said with a nod.

He wanted to reach for her. Touch her, kiss her, but did not. At least, not to the degree he wanted to. Instead, he picked up her hand, and brought her bruised knuckles to his lips, and let his kiss linger on her skin. He listened to the tattoo of her heart picking up speed and the way that her breath hitched, a smile spreading on his lips as her blush darkened.

“Until tomorrow.” He promised against her skin and delighted in the darkening of her eyes. 

He left the truck before he could give into temptation.

Aro waited until the truck had continued on, then closed his eyes to gain composure. 

He wanted to give her something, he suddenly realized. Something that she could keep with her when they parted. A piece of him to have close and remind her that he would be waiting. 

And there was something that would possibly protect her as well, at least to some degree. Inspired, he took off to the south once more, pleased that he was on the west coast for it meant the trip wouldn’t take long.

~AB~

Bella could picture exactly what would have happened if Aro stayed just a few seconds longer in her truck. She’d have unlatched her seatbelt, stretched herself across the seat, and kissed him. She’d have moved to get as close to him as she could, and when that wasn’t enough, she’d have pulled herself into his lap. And he wasn’t Edward, he wasn’t from a time of chasteness and courting rituals. At least, probably not like Edward’s. So Aro wouldn’t have balked at having her in his lap. He probably wouldn’t have stopped her from putting her fingers in his hair, pulling ineffectually but causing him to move for her anyway. So she could kiss deeper. He’d likely pull her toward him, trying to get her closer, maybe return the favor by threading his own fingers in her tresses. Maybe he’d whisper Italian on her lips, her jaw, her-

“Bells!” Charlie half-yelled, snapping her out of her daydream. He chuckled, “What’s got you so deep in thought?” he asked, pointing at her barely touched dinner with his fork.

She glanced down as if surprised to find herself at the table despite having cooked the pasta dish in front of her herself and having told Charlie that dinner was ready as it was.

“Finals.” She said with a shake of her head, trying to clear it of the image of those cool, smooth lips brushing foreign words on her skin, and of red eyes darkened with a different sort of thirst. She hadn’t realized she’d had such a detailed imagination before. “Guess my mind is still stuck in reviewing.”

“Everything alright besides that?” Charlie asked as Bella resumed - or maybe even started - eating. “You haven’t had any nightmares that I noticed for a couple months now.”

“Guess I haven’t.” She said, not having realized that herself. 

She supposed the dreams she _did_ have _should_ be considered nightmares. What with how many times she’d been bitten in them. Of what she would be in only a few months' time. But she wasn’t scared, not anymore. The unknown was what terrified her, and now she was equipped with an idea of what to expect she wasn’t as terrified. 

“Been sleeping alright?” Charlie asked cautiously.

“Except last night.” She murmured. A glance at Charlie had her elaborating. “I had some questions for the school in Italy.” She said with a shrug. “Didn’t think I could sleep until I asked them.”

“Did you get sorted?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” She agreed. After a few bites, she asked, “How do you think Billy would feel if I took Jake to Florida?”

Charlie nearly dropped his fork. 

“Sorry… what?” He asked as he composed himself. 

“Well, the Cullens gave me a ticket to see mom last year for my birthday. I was thinking of using it after grad, go see her before Italy. But there was a companion ticket and I know it was probably meant for Edward, but since we’re not together.” She shrugged.

“What about Alice?” Charlie suggested. 

“I’m not sure if she would,” Bella replied. 

Charlie sighed. “I don’t know what Billy would think.” He confessed. “I do know what it would look like to everyone, though.” He cautioned.

“Jake and I have an understanding,” Bella said with confidence. “But if that’s the only reason you see for not bringing him, I might ask when the time gets closer.”

“As long as the Cullens won’t mind,” Charlie said with a nod. “Ask them before you ask Jake. You’re still friends with the sister, and I know Carlisle is a pretty understanding guy, all things considered. They may not like the idea of you taking someone else, though.”

Bella nodded, seeing the rationality in that, and quietly agreeing to ask the next chance she got.

Dinner proceeded fairly normally after that, though Bella’s mind didn’t wander to the truck again until she was doing dishes. 

By the time she was finished washing, drying, and putting them away, she was fairly sure she had an accurate idea of what it would have been like if they had made out in her truck on the side of the road. If his hands had traveled up her shirt, over her spine, her sides. Tracing up her stomach.

She entered her bedroom, mildly wishing she hadn’t given Aro back his jacket and screamed at finding Edward sitting on her bed.

“Bella!?” Charlie called from upstairs in a panic.

“Spider,” She called back. “Startled me is all.” Turning back to Edward, she hissed, “Get. Out.”

“Your window was open.” He pointed out calmly.

“I don’t care, it wasn’t open for you.” She shot back, trying to keep her voice as low as possible while still wanting to scream at him.

“And who was it open for, Bella?” Edward asked. “Don’t tell me Aro.”

“What would it matter if it was?”

“Because he’s dangerous,” Edward replied. “And you heard what he’s done, he said it himself. I know he was here last night, between his not having his jacket when Carlisle, Esme, and I got back and you wearing it this morning.”

“How do you know he didn’t give it to me in the truck? Or in the woods before you got there?” She countered.

Edward looked at her as if she were being adorably stupid. “It smelled more like you than him.” He reasoned. 

“Oh, you’re smelling Aro, now?” She crossed her arms. 

“Bella, come on.”

“No, get out.” She said firmly again, gesturing to the window with her head.

“You have to let me _try_.”

“I don’t _have_ to let you do anything. The window was not left open as an invitation.” She repeated.

“Bella,” He started to say as she darted for her phone on the nightstand. He was at her back but didn’t touch her. “I’m scaring you.” He realized, sounding almost offended as he was disgusted. With her or himself, it didn’t matter.

She turned and faced him. “You can leave.” She said firmly, “Or I can call-”

“Edward,” Alice said from the window, her voice dripping with fond exasperation not too dissimilar to how Edward often sounded with Bella. She gracefully swung inside the room and plopped down on the foot of the bed. “I thought you said you were going to scout for Victoria with Jasper?”

Edward glanced away and said nothing.

“Have you guys…?” Bella asked Alice but stopped when Alice shook her head.

“Jazz says he’ll pick up the scent, only to lose it five miles or so out. He was going to ask Aro to help, but he went south earlier for an errand.” 

Edward frowned and looked at Alice with confusion, but she merely continued to smile placidly, unperturbed by her brother’s likely listening in.

A moment later there was another rustle in the tree, and Jacob appeared.

“Hey guys,” He said with a smile for Bella, a lesser one for Alice, and a dark look at Edward.

“What are you doing here, Jacob?” Edward asked as politely as possible, his nose wrinkling subtly. 

He hopped into the room. “I’m here to see Bella.” He replied with a casual shrug.

“Shirtless?” Edward countered.

Jacob shrugged again, stuffing his hands in the pockets of the worn and torn jeans that were either brought to the forest outside her house or something he started carrying around when he could. 

Bella couldn’t help but snicker. “I hadn’t realized I was hosting a party.” She asked, feeling herself relax all the more. Alice’s arrival had taken the edge off, helped Bella’s guard lower. Jacob eased it just a little bit more. 

“I’m having a party after the graduation ceremony next week,” Alice said to Jacob, her eyes lighting up. “You and the other members of the tribe are invited.”

Jacob looked askance at Alice.

“You want us to go to a party with a bunch of bloodsuckers?” He asked.

“Don’t worry,” Alice said as she took out her phone and dialed. “The ratio of humans to vampires will likely drown out the worst of the smell, it should be the same the other way around. It’ll be fine, we’ll hardly have to air out the house after you’ve gone.” 

Bella’s phone vibrated in her hand, Alice’s name appearing. She frowned at her friend who smirked ever so slightly as Jacob looked ready to counter.

“Bells?” Charlie’s voice came from down the hall. At once, three supernatural beings froze, then disappeared out the window. 

Bella heard the faint sounds of three voices coming from her phone, and she hit speakerphone just as Charlie knocked then opened her bedroom door. She looked up at her dad as Edward began to speak.

“Alice,” he chided, and Charlie looked at the phone.

“Jacob is Bella’s friend, and Bella is mine. If I want to invite him and a few others to _my_ party, then I will.” Alice countered, and Charlie arched his brow.

“That sounded a lot louder from the stairs.” He said suspiciously. 

“Sorry, I had it louder cause there was a bat or something outside my window,” Bella said, tossing the phone on the bed as Jacob started laughing near uncontrollably. She looked outside, seeing the three of them just at the tree line, far enough away from the house that their voices wouldn’t carry in from outside, but close enough that they could have come right back in as soon as Charlie retreated. 

Pointedly, Bella closed the window, locked it, and drew the curtains.

Edward was grumbling, but over what exactly couldn’t be heard by human ears.

“Everything alright?” Bella asked Charlie as she went back to her bed.

Now he was frowning at the window. “You used to always have that open. Complained it was too warm.”

“I’ve been getting chilly lately.” She replied. 

“Yeah, has been a bit colder than normal.” Charlie agreed before turning out the door of her room, clearly satisfied that she hadn’t snuck anyone in.

“Bella,” Edward said plaintively. “Can you… please, just let me.”

“You’re supposed to be watching the house tomorrow with Aro, aren’t you?” She asked. “You can talk to me then.”

“I would rather talk to you alone,” He said, Alice beginning to grumble that it was her phone.

“Well, it’s not going to happen. Especially now.” Bella shot back.

“And you’d let _him-”_

 _“_ Goodnight,” Bella said, ending the call and slamming her phone face down on the bed. 

She leaned her head back against the headboard, looking at the ceiling, realizing quite suddenly that her mind had no interest in wandering back to the idea of what being in the truck with Aro could have been like.

Turns out one conversation with Edward was better than a cold shower.

~AB~

Her message came in the early hours of the morning, a request to come just after six in the morning. Quite early, especially considering she hadn’t needed to be at the school that day. 

He arrived as requested, noting her father had already left for the day.

Aro watched the house curiously, hearing Bella calmly moving about if the shuffle and her heart rate meant anything.

The smell of dog grew thicker in the air around him, causing Aro to stop breathing. He felt the breath on his neck, and tensed, ready to fight or flee depending on how this went. After a couple of seconds, he felt a distinct nudge on his back, followed by a snuffle like sneeze.

Aro turned, frowning in confusion regarding the behavior of the russet wolf.

He just stared at him.

“I have a feeling you want me to know something.” He said, slowly lifting up his hand, stopping before he ever made contact. This wolf still looked at him with disgust, but to a slightly lesser degree than the others. “I can touch you like this and find out, or you can transform back into your human form.”

The wolf tilted its head, but the sound of the back door had it perking up for a moment before turning away and heading into the woods.

The wolf gone, Aro dart out of the tree line then slowed, approaching Bella at a human pace as not to startle her again.

She smiled brightly as she spotted him, shifting the blanket over her arm.

“ _Buongiorno, mia cara,”_ Aro greeted, taking the blanket from her as they continued to the tree line.

“Umm, hi, I think.” She chuckled nervously. 

“Yes, Bella. And what have you planned for today, then?” 

“Studying.” She said as they arrived. “Or at least trying to.” 

Aro flicked out the blanket, and Bella set down her school bag. He could hear the approach of someone, a faster heartbeat, the faint smell of dog catching the breeze.

“Much as I’m flattered that you would like to keep me company while watching your house, I’m surprised at the early hour.”

“That’s because she left her window open last night.” Jacob Black said as he came out of the trees, nothing but a pair of pants for clothing. He looked Aro up and down, half scowling, half frowning, then turned a softened gaze to Bella. “I wanted to make sure you’d be alright, knowing who half your guard was supposed to be this morning.”

Aro narrowed his eyes, and a moment later understanding hit. Moving too fast, and inadvertently startling her, Aro took Bella’s bruised hand in his own, looking her over as he took hold of her shoulder as well. “Did he hurt you, _mia cara?_ ” He asked, searching for any evidence that Edward laid a hand on her.

She shook her head, still reeling from the shock, he would imagine, then looked to Jacob as if for help.

Aro did, too, and the young man glanced between them.

“Me and the small one stepped in,” Jacob said with a shrug. “We all cleared out when Charlie came around. Anyway,” He said with a sigh. “I have school. So,” 

“Thanks, Jake.” Bella smiled at her friend. A slight shift and Aro took his hands back, watching her move to the wolf and give him a quick hug. “For last night and this morning.”

Jacob wrapped his arms around her snuggly. “You don’t have to thank me. Protecting you from vampires is my job.”

Bella snickered before stepping back, then giving him a gentle shove at the shoulder. “Go on then, get going.” Jacob smiled at her, met Aro’s eye, and nodded. He turned, disappearing in the woods, and a moment there was the distinct sound of ripping fabric.

“I suppose that explains his lack of dress,” Aro said off-handedly as Bella turned toward him.

“Yeah,” she huffed with an eye roll and a grin before coming back to his side. She tossed herself down on the blanket, reached for her bag, and opened it. As she was pulling things out, she asked, “Does it bother you? That I’m still friends with Jake?”

He looked over his shoulder, still faintly able to hear the wolf’s heartbeat. He thought to warn her he could hear, but then thought better of it. It seemed Bella had no desire to really keep secrets from the young man.

“Only in that once you've changed, it will be difficult if not impossible to maintain,” Aro replied as he sat as dignified as possible beside her. “Even if you decide to stay with the Cullens, there’s no guarantee your relationship with Jacob will carry over.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, mouth parted in what might have been disappointment. 

“Stay with…. Do you want me to?” She asked.

“No,” He replied immediately. “I thought I had made myself quite clear in regards to what I desire from you the night previous.”

“Yeah, in Italian.” She grumbled, causing him to giggle.

Leaning in toward her, he smirked and said, “ _Penso che tu piaccia,_ ”** When Bella made to smack him again, he delicately caught her wrist in his hand. “Did we not learn anything from yesterday?” He teased, glancing pointedly at her already bruised hand.

“Only that you have a tendency to make me want to smack you.” She smirked, and dare he think she was flirting with him a little.

“I do so love when you speak impertinently.” He grinned, shifting his hold from her wrist to her hand. 

“How much trouble am I going to get into, talking to you like that when I’m changed?” She asked.

He couldn’t help when his smile turned a touch lascivious, and he certainly felt no guilt at seeing her eyes darken, and her lips part in a quiet, barely heard gasp. “Quite a lot, but nothing that would make you regret it.”

Bella gave a startled laugh, her cheeks flushing hot and red. He leaned in, running his nose along her cheek, thrilling as she shivered. He took in a deep breath, his throat scratching the slightest bit. She did have a lovely scent, sweet and floral, though if he were hunting, and prey was bountiful, hers would not be the scent that lured him. It _was_ under the subtle musk of dog, but there all the same. 

Her other hand touched his neck, fingers curling around the back just beneath his hair. His hand found her waist, curling around it, their position becoming something like that of a waltz without the dancing. He turned his head, brushing his lips against the line of her jaw, then heard the distant sounds of a vampire running toward them.

He sighed, backing out of Isabella’s space, letting go of her waist and forcing her hand away from his neck.

“Wh-what?” She asked, blinking owlishly. “Why did you-?”

“Because,” he whispered as softly as possible. “I’m very certain it looked like I was about to feast on your neck.”

She blinked again, “Would that be such a-” She stopped when the rustling clearly reached her human ears, and her eyes went wide as a new kind of blush took over.

“You’re a little adorable when you’re embarrassed,” he remarked. 

That brought out a scowl. “Shut up.”

“Now that’s been a promising phrase in the past.” He grinned and was pleased when she threw her head back and laughed just as Edward broke out of the tree line. 

He knew from Edward’s memory that Bella had never quite laughed like that around him. Had never seen her so wound or relaxed that she felt free enough to do so. 

Was it the eggshells Edward insisted on walking on around her, terrified of breaking her, of hurting her. Was he that concerned that she would cause him to lose control?

Aro actually felt sorry for the younger vampire.

“I must have missed most of the joke,” Edward said as he joined them on the blanket.

“Situational humor,” Bella waved it off, reluctantly removing her hand from Aro’s and picked up her textbook.

Edward looked between them, a hint of concern.

“You said we could talk today.” He said to Bella, tilting his head to look at her as she bent over her textbook.

She looked up and shrugged. “Yeah, I did.” She closed her book. “What did you want to talk about?”

Edward looked at Aro again. “Could we have some time alone?” He asked rather politely.

“I want him here,” Bella said rather firmly.

“Bella,” Edward started to protest.

“How about a compromise, _mia cara?_ ” Aro asked her, taking her hand once more, cradling it in his. “I won’t be far, still well within hearing range, but I will give you space.”

“It’s not much of a compromise.” Edward pointed out. “Seeing as how you’ll still get to eavesdrop.”

“Yes, but it’s only fair play since you can listen in on anyone’s thoughts but hers. I’m sure you heard a few things in my mind just moments ago that I would rather have kept to myself.” 

“All you would have to do is make skin contact, and you’d hear exactly what I had to think about that. As well as anything that we talk about here.” Edward countered.

“I want him nearby,” Bella said firmly. 

Edward looked rather displeased by that, but instead of arguing, he merely nodded. 

Bella turned to Aro then, shifting her fingers to squeeze his hand. 

“I won’t be far.” He promised again, leaving that instant, heading out of sight, and probably not nearly as far as Edward would like. Certainly well within hearing range with no walls to muffle the sound. 

Aro leaned up against a tree, keeping quiet, still, paying attention to everything at once.

“Right,” Bella said nervously. “What do you want to talk about?”

A pause. “How’ve you been?”

“Pretty great,” Bella replied, Aro’s lips ticking up slightly. “You know, things are going pretty good. Jake was by this morning.”

“Yes, I can smell him on your clothes,” Edward replied, a hint of disgust in his voice. “I’m surprised Aro could be so close to it.”

“You are.” Bella retorted. “Alice is. Is this all that’s going to happen? You say you want to talk, and then complain the whole time about every little thing?”

“No,” Edward immediately replied. “No, it’s not how I wanted things to go. I’m just… adrift. Lost. I don’t know what I am without you.”

“You got along pretty well for a hundred years.”

“Yeah, but that was before I knew you,” Edward said, and Aro could hear the charming smile in his voice. A pause. “What did you think about the final in biology?”

“It was… okay, I guess.” She replied, sounding uncertain.

“It was well written. Better than the one I took about twenty years ago.”

“Well, science _has_ advanced.” Bella teased, and Aro was surprised to find himself pleased to hear it. 

“No,” Edward replied, his voice taking on a humored undertone. “It was written by a teacher who very much did _not_ believe in what he was teaching….”

Edward began the story, interacting with Bella as she made comments and snickered at certain parts. The story shifted, Edward recounting more of his more interesting times in the United States Education system from all his varied times.

Aro listened as well, though perhaps not with as much interest as Bella. All the time he scanned the trees, listened, tasting.

It’s how he noticed a faint rustling that wasn’t from an animal. A rustling that carried with it no heartbeat. 

He moved swiftly, catching the vampire off-guard, causing the man to stumble backward. He was new, someone Aro hadn’t seen before. 

“Can I help you?” He asked smoothly, smiling warmly.

The vampire’s eyes kept darting past him toward the house before meeting his own.

“Are… are you the one?” He asked. “The one who…. The smell. Riley gave us the smell, just a taste. He said he would give it to us again when it’s time, but…. It was so good. I couldn’t… I had to….”

“My friend,” Aro stepped closer, offering his hand. “Please.”

The vampire looked at the hand, stepped closer, then stopped. He breathed deep, eyes widening. 

“You carry the smell.” He said, sounding similar to an addict as he staggered toward Aro.

Aro grabbed his hand and saw.

_The blur of a formally human life. Tourist? Not a local._

_Bitten, unseen by whom, and the burn._

_Blood lust. Lies told to stay out of the sun lest they burn. Stay hidden. The Cullens dominate the area. If they find out about the new ones feeding, they’ll surely destroy them. The Cullens must be destroyed first. Soon, unknown. This, the blouse, silk and red and smelling painfully sweet and wondrous. The thirst, it burns and it wants that smell. It has to get to it. It has to-_

Aro yanked the arm out of the socket before going for the head of the vampire and twisting it off. He removed a lighter from his inner jacket pocket, and held the head by the hair, immediately lighting the head on fire. He then relished ripping apart the body, tossing it in the flame, watching it alight. 

And then he took in deep breaths through his mouth, tasting the smoke, the burnt-stone flesh, clearing his senses of the secondary bloodlust. His throat was felt dryer than before, but manageable. No different than the day he met Bella. 

He’ll have information to share with the Cullens, confirmation as to what the newborns were created for, as well as a direct link between them and the intruders.

Satisfied that there was no coming back for the vampire who wandered here, Aro grabbed a nearby bolder and tossed it on to the flames, smothering it as to not draw any attention, or have it spread.

He was just adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves when he heard Isabella cry out in agony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I think you like it 
> 
> I'm not sure when the next update will come, but I'll try to have it out in the next week.  
> Thanks again, everyone, for your continued support of this fic. Until next time.


	13. Chapter 13

Things had been going rather well. 

Bella had actually been enjoying her time with Edward, hearing more about his life before Forks. Or, at least before Forks this decade. She couldn’t imagine going through school so often, though he did make a point to talk about some of his higher education. It was more or less painted in a way that sounded more like he was preparing her, but it was still nice to hear nonetheless.

She’d been laughing at a story when she realized he’d gone silent and stared at her with a glimmer in his eye.

“What?” She asked.

“I missed you,” He said. “Just this, us. Spending time together just you and me. It hasn’t been the same. And I know, I know why and I know it’s my fault. I just… I want to make it up to you.”

Bella sighed, but for the first time in the last couple of months, it wasn’t in exasperation regarding him. 

“This?” She said, gesturing between them. “It’s… a start. Things will never be the way they were before.” She started and Edward nodded.

“I know, I know. I left, and things changed. But Bella, you have to know I still love you.”

“Edward,” She started to say, but then he was leaning toward her, reaching for her face.

She was _not_ going to allow him to do what she knew he was going to, and instinct had her hitting his hand away.

_“Did we not learn anything from yesterday?”_

Aro’s earlier warning echoed in her head as she felt her already bruised hand scream in a deeper agony before it escaped out of her mouth. 

Edward’s eyes widened in horror, watching her as she clutched her further injured hand against her chest.

“Bella?” He asked in concern, hands coming up and hovering, but the scowl she gave him through the pain stayed his movements.

“Isabella,” Aro snarled in concern from somewhere near the woods, appearing at her side a moment later. “What happened?” He demanded, darting his head around, looking for something.

“I was an idiot.” She ground out, glancing down at her hand, seeing it begin to swell. 

Aro looked down at Bella’s hand, then at Edward. 

“I suppose that entirely depends on what the situation was.” He agreed, gently taking her injured hand in his. 

The coolness of his skin was almost as nice as a proper ice pack. But then his fingers flexed, and she winced.

“ _Posso solo sperare che tu non resti così fragile dopo il veleno.”*_ Aro mumbled, relaxing his hand and helping Bella off the ground.

Edward had snickered, which drew Aro’s attention to him.

“If I discover you’re the cause-” Aro threatened.

“Only in that he was what I hit my hand on,” Bella interjected, getting Aro’s attention off of Edward. 

If she didn’t know any better, she would say that Edward was relieved, maybe even grateful for her deflection. 

Aro sighed, shook his head, “Come. Your hand must be looked at.” He said, starting to guide her to the front of the house.

“I’ll call Carlisle,” Edward offered, following them. “He can arrange to help get Bella admitted that much faster.”

“I will not be able to join you,” Aro said firmly, he and Edward exchanging a look, and an understanding.

Edward swallowed, cringed, his face contorting in pain.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t either,” Aro said simply.

“I’ll be fine,” Edward replied firmly, though he sounded irritated.

“Perhaps you will be.” Aro agreed.

“Alright, what is going on?” Bella asked as they got to the truck, Edward parting from them to get in the Volvo.

“Nothing to fret over, _mia cara,”_ Aro said as he opened the passenger door and guided her in. Once the door was closed, he darted into the house, then returned seconds later and was in the driver’s seat with the keys. Once the engine started, and he started them on the road, he explained. “Someone was in the woods, though I heard them before they got near the house. You’ll have nothing to worry about from them. Their thoughts, however… let’s simply say I’m not in the right mind frame to go into a hospital where the smell of blood lingers in the air.”

Bella paled but nodded, understanding what he was hinting at. She thought for just a moment to ask why Aro would ask if Edward was alright to go in, especially as the Cullens had been in the hospital to see Carlisle before without a problem. But there was still a bit of a predatory gleam in Aro’s eyes that hadn’t subsided since he had rushed to her side. If the thirst Aro was undoubtedly feeling despite the bright red of his eyes was potent enough, Edward may have felt a bit of it himself while reading Aro’s mind.

They arrived at the hospital, the patient drop off mercifully vacant, allowing them a few more seconds together. When Aro put the truck in park, Bella reached out and touched his hand with her good one.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” She asked him.

“I’ll be fine,” He assured her, and Bella nodded.

Then, impulsively, she leaned across the seat and placed a quick peck on Aro’s cheek.

He breathed deep when she was in his space, and let out the most pleased sigh she’d ever heard. When she pulled back, his eyes were still shut, a faint smile playing on his lips.

“I tell you as delicately as possible that I’m terribly thirsty, and you bring that elegant neck so very near.” He said before opening his eyes. They were a shade darker, though the gleam took on something more than simply that of a hunter.

“Sorry,” She apologized.

“I think you forget what I am, sometimes.” He said, extending a finger and running it along the pulse in her neck.

She swallowed. “No,” She said, not daring to shake her head. “I don’t forget. I just know you won’t hurt me.”

“Not intentionally.” He agreed. “But I do not wish to tempt fate. You’re exceedingly breakable.”

She chuckled, “Yeah,” she agreed, turning to open the truck door. She slid out the seat then turned back to Aro. “Will you be far?”

“Yes.” He said without explaining further, and she understood what he intended to do. “I will return your vehicle, allow Edward to bring you either to your home or to the Cullens. I believe we should have a conversation later.”

“Alright.” She said, waving a moment before stepping back and shutting the door. 

The truck was gone as quick as it could go.

Bella stood under the overhang of the patient drop off, watching her truck disappear while holding her injured hand against her chest. It should disturb her that Aro was going to head off somewhere, take another human life. It should bother her that at least five people were already dead since he was here because he was here. And, she supposed, deep down she was. The nameless, facelessness of it all had helped it put it from her mind, helped her consider what she would do when she changed without thinking too hard on it.

Before her mind could spiral into a few dozen scenarios, the doors to the hospital slid open behind her, and she turned to see Carlisle coming toward her. He smiled and shook his head as he approached.

“Edward told me you hit him with an already injured hand from hitting Aro?” He asked with a smile. “Are they giving you trouble?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Bella said confidently.

“Your hand says differently.” He teased, bringing her inside. “Come on, let’s get you admitted, I already called x-ray so it won’t be too long.”

~*~

Bella was waiting for the nurse meant to escort her back to her place in the emergency room when her phone rang. 

“Hello?” She asked, glancing guiltily around the corridor in case this was against some sort of hospital rules.

“Have you been seen to?” Aro asked on the other end. He sounded, not breathless, but probably similar to it had he needed to breath. 

“Only just had an x-ray,” Bella replied, then with a smirk. “Do you know what an x-ray is?”

“Yes, Bella,” He said, and she could imagine he rolled her eyes at her. “I assume you won’t be much longer, then?”

“Hopefully not.” She replied, glancing up as a nurse came by. Not her nurse, of course, but one nonetheless. Said nurse did not scowl or give her any sort of look that would indicate she wasn’t supposed to be on her phone, so Bella relaxed, leaning back in the chair a touch more. “Where did you go?”

“South.” He replied vaguely, all but confirming her suspicions regarding his activities. At least he should be better, and she just really hoped whoever he drank deserved it. “Is Edward with you?”

“No,” She shook her head unnecessarily. “He’s waiting back in the emergency room.”

“I shouldn’t be long. I recommend, however, finding a way of excusing yourself from returning to your home after you leave the hospital. I wish to speak with all of you regarding what happened in the forest.”

“What about my dad?”

“I don’t think he has anything to worry about, _mia cara,_ ” Aro said soothingly, and she couldn’t help the quick upturn of her lips. 

“My truck?” 

“Returned to your home before I left,” Aro replied just as the nurse from earlier rounded the corner down the hall.

“I have to go.” She said simply.

“I will see you at the Cullen house.” He replied before disconnecting.

Bella followed the nurse back to the exam area, sat on the bed as directed, and waited.

Edward came around the corner a moment later, giving a nervous smile before sitting in the chair next to the bed.

Bella watched him for a moment. “Do you know what happened in the woods? What Aro was talking about?”

Edward grimaced. “Most of it.” He replied. Then with a glance at her, said, “nothing you need to worry about.”

“He wants me at the house.” She told him, getting Edward to stare wide-eyed at her. “He told me to go there after I left here.”

“And you’re just going to do what he asks?”

“I did for you.”

“No,” Edward shook his head. “No, you didn’t.”

“Name something.”

“Live a normal life.” Edward countered. “Forget me, forget my family. I asked you to do all of that.”

Bella scoffed. “Right, because I was just going to shrug it off and carry on as if none of you existed. As if I didn’t know-”

“And yet, when he asks something of you….”

Bella leaned toward him, though careful not to go so far as to fall off the exam chair. Making sure Edward had met her gaze, she said, “Aro hasn’t asked me to do anything I haven’t been willing to do anyway. And you know what? The _only_ thing Jacob has ever really asked me to do that I didn’t was not go after you in Italy. You ask me to stay away, then stalk into my room. You ask me to forget you then come back. Accept your gifts, then take them all away.”

“I didn’t,” Edward said softly. “They’re underneath a floorboard in your room.”

She shook her head. “Why can’t you understand that things are never going to be the way they were before?” She asked, glancing at her injured hand.

Edward looked at it - stared, really - and did so for long enough that she wasn’t sure he was going to have an answer for her.

Eventually, his shoulders drooped, and he met her eye again. Before he could answer, the curtain was pulled back, and Carlisle grinned at her.

“A sprain.” He told her. “You’re lucky. We’ll get you set up with a brace, and then I can drive you to the house. You’re my last patient of the day.”

Edward stood. “Why bring her to the house?” He asked.

“Alice called. Said Bella would need to be there,” Carlisle replied as he went about fitting a brace for Bella.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean-”

“He never tried to exclude me,” Bella said pointedly, turning to look at Edward as his eyebrows shot up. “He doesn’t hide things. He doesn’t tell half-truths, or tries to shrug things off.”

Edward said nothing, remaining statue still as Carlisle finished wrapping Bella’s hand.

“We’ll get you discharged.” He said as he got up, patting Edward on the shoulder and snapping him out of his stupor.

~*~  
  


After they were on the road, Carlisle asked, “Now that we don’t have others listening in and taking notes, would you like to tell me what _really_ happened to your hand? I know you didn’t trip and fall the wrong way, there were some already healing bruises.”

Bella sighed and told Carlisle about her thoughtless movements regarding both Aro and Edward.

“It was impulsive on both counts.” She finished with a shrug.

Carlisle wasn’t amused, nor did he look terribly upset by it. More confused, really.

“Aro let you….”

“Smack him? Yeah, suppose he did. I mean, he caught my hand earlier today when I went to do it again.”

Carlisle shook his head. “I don’t mean… well, I suppose I do. I just mean that he let you act that way with him.”

Bella frowned. “What was he like when you were with him. I mean, Edward told me that they were refined, the Volturi. That they liked the arts and sciences but obviously didn’t care much about human lives. But… what was he like?”

Carlisle pursed his lips. “It really depended on the moment, the situation.” He explained. “He wasn’t what I would call manic, though there are many who probably would.”

“He told me he went between ruthless and benevolent.” Bella supplied.

“He did.” Carlisle agreed. “He had an interest in how my lifestyle affected me. He’d heard of others doing so, of course, but they were all weakened, diminished. He did try to convert me to their way of life, but he certainly didn’t force it. I had witnessed a few of the executions he’d performed, usually done seeming without explanation.”

“He knew if they meant it.” Bella nodded.

“I suppose. But there was always whispers, whether or not the vampire was _truly_ guilty of whatever crime they had committed, or if they were a means to a different end.”

“Like with the destroying covens.” Bella pointed out.

Carlisle glanced at her. “I get the feeling you already know most of this.”

Bella shrugged and tried not to blush. “The other night I asked him to explain himself after the call. I just… I wanted to understand. I mean, Jake - he has a negative view of you all because that’s what he was taught, that’s what he was told. It’s what his instincts tell him, at least now. He didn’t really believe any of it before he phased the first time. And I always had an idea of what vampires and werewolves were supposed to be like, and it’s just… we all have a view, an opinion. I wanted him to explain why he did what he did.”

“And did you get your answers?” Carlisle asked.

“I did.” Bella nodded once. 

“And you’re okay with what you’ve heard?” The question was asked in a clinical way, with no judgment. 

“I know he’s not a perfect man.” She said, getting Carlisle to nod. “I don’t like what he’s done. But he didn’t lie about it. And… everything I say is going to make it sound like I’m defending him.”

“Bella, I know Aro isn’t pure evil,” Carlisle assured. “I do know him, and I call him a friend for a reason. There is a difference between defending and acknowledging.” He sighed. “I just want you to understand that there is darkness in him. That he isn’t always nice, charming.”

“I know.” She said simply, and they fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive to the house. 

~*~

“There was a newborn vampire near the house this morning.” Aro began to explain, causing all the vampires in the room except Edward to still, and for Bella to shudder at the thought.

When she and Carlisle arrived at the house, Aro was waiting for them in the garage. He went quietly to Bella’s side, handing her out of the car as was his norm, but led them back in through the house once Edward arrived as well. Once assembled in the living room, he stood before them, a commanding center presence, with Carlisle and Esme off to the side.

“I didn’t hear their thoughts,” Edward said thoughtfully from her left, Alice glancing at him from Bella’s right.

“I would wager the distance was far enough away,” Aro replied. “I only just caught the sound when I had given you and Isabella privacy to talk. I intercepted him.” Aro looked back to the room at large. “The newborns were created for the purpose of destroying you all. You were painted to be territorial, the dominant coven in the area because you would not allow anyone to feed here.”

“So, not Victoria,” Emmett said thoughtfully. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged and said, “our eyes would’ve told her we aren’t human blood drinkers.”

“Unless she lied.” Carlisle reminded them.

“I did not see her in the newborn’s memories,” Aro stated. “It doesn’t mean she’s not somehow linked. I do know, however, that the mystery vampire that entered the Swan residence _is_ connected to the newborns. The vampire was drawn there by Bella’s scent which he’d experienced prior to his arrival via a blouse.”

“How could he have picked up the scent from so far away?” Edward asked with a frown.

“Perhaps he had a gift of stronger smell. Perhaps he wanted to seek it out on his own.” Aro shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You were in his head and you don’t know?” Edward asked.

“I only know what he knows. If it was the former, he was unaware of his talent. If the latter… I ripped his head off before I managed to get to such a memory.”

“Why would you-” Edward started to ask, but was stopped when wild, wide red eyes found his again.

“Because he wanted to drain Isabella dry.” Aro snarled. “He wanted to-” He cut himself off, and seemed to take a breath, though maybe it was just the movements of doing so. After a moment, Aro was calm again, and a quick glance in Jasper’s direction made Bella think he’d gotten some assistance. “I was enraged. I felt I’d seen enough.”

“But you might not have,” Rosalie said with the slightest bit of a scowl. When Aro glanced her way, she didn’t back down. “He might have gotten permission from whoever was in charge to find Bella. Or there might have been others with him.”

“Yes,” Aro agreed. “I suppose I acted a bit rashly.”

“I haven’t seen anything in regards to a decision,” Alice said, gazing off into the distance. “I don’t think anything was left to chance.”

“Even so, we should scout the area around the house,” Carlisle said decisively. He looked at Bella. “Your father?”

“I called while you were discharging me.” She replied. “He’ll be at the station. He thinks I’m shopping with Alice in Port Angeles.” 

“Aww, you chose shopping.” Alice perked up, smiling at her,

“We’ll search the parameter of the house, make sure there isn’t anyone else lingering,” Carlisle stated. “We can’t move the confrontation up any sooner than it is, lest it draw suspicion. Aro,” Here Carlisle lost the command in his tone, “could you stay here with Bella until we return? Will you be alright to?”

Aro nodded once but said nothing.

“Alright, let’s go. Stay in contact, if anyone sees anything-”

“What about the pack?” Bella asked before most of the Cullens could leave. “Should they know?”

“Yes,” Aro and Carlisle said at once. 

“They should be made aware,” Carlisle added before he took off, followed by the rest of them.

Bella looked around the empty living room, Aro being a statue-like exception, then got out her phone.

It was more than a little difficult navigating it with only one hand, but Bella managed to find Jacob’s contact and called.

It rang to voicemail. She tried again, getting the same results, and huffed. After leaving a message about what was going on, she hung up and looked out the window.

“Do you want me to stay?” Aro asked, startling her. He wasn’t looking at her, but instead out the window as she had been.

“Yes.” She said simply. When he didn’t move she got off the couch and headed toward him. “Why wouldn’t I?” 

He turned to her, a quick motion like he snapped to attention if he were human. “I touched Carlisle’s hand while the younger ones teased you over your hand. I saw the conversation you had.”

“And that would make me not want to be alone with you?” She asked, arching one brow and quietly chuckling nervously.

Aro slowly moved his hand to trace along the line of her neck, down her pulse point like earlier. He then slowly leaned in, and Bella’s eyes fluttered closed as she felt his lips graze her skin. 

“You know where I was earlier.” He said into the crease where neck met shoulder. “You know what I did. What I do, how I feed. This will be the third time you’ve let me so very near your neck, and I wonder if you truly do understand the very real danger you may be in.”

“You hunted again,” She said, good hand involuntarily moving to his neck, fingers threading through his hair. She tugged, and he lifted his head, grazing his nose along her cheek before meeting her eyes. “And you will a few more times before you leave. And I get that I should be terrified of you. I was a little bit this morning, the way your eyes… you’re a vampire, I get it. I’ve seen how Alice, Jasper, Edward are when they’re in a fight, I know what it looks like. It _is_ a little frightening, but you aren’t going to hurt me. I know you won’t.”

“We never got to talk,” He said carefully, “about why you are so certain of it. Why your feelings for Edward dimmed.”

“Do you really want to talk now?” She asked carefully, hoping maybe she wouldn’t be the one to lead this time.

“I do not.” 

This time, he kissed her. 

~AB~

Aro didn’t know if it was Edward’s lack of experience in general or perhaps his more chaste life that had caused him to be cautious. He knew from memories that Edward would always stop a kiss before it became much of anything, holding Bella at arm’s length regardless of whether they were in a field alone, or in her bed. For once he had to give the boy credit.

It was painfully difficult to not to lose control with this tiny, frail, responsive human in his arms.

He couldn’t pull her too close, lest he break a rib. He had to mind his teeth because just the smallest nip could be disastrous in so many ways. Aro had to make sure his hands didn’t tug hair too hard or dig too much into lovely, soft curves. Her taste, her smell, was overloading his senses. He wanted to ravish her, and yet he didn’t have the complete luxury of letting go just yet. A small bit of torture with all the tiny, wonderful sounds she made so softly she probably thought he didn’t hear her.

Then Bella needed air, and she pulled away, panting heavily as her dark eyes darkened more.

Lust was a color she wore well. The flush of her cheeks that carried down her neck to her chest where her shirt opened just a touch. The plumping of her lips, the shine on them, and the way she bit the lower one was almost too much. 

“ _Bella creatura,”_ Aro breathed, shaking his head in awe. He leaned in, his lips over her jaw, hearing her shudder in delight. _“Come ti adoro così tanto già. Ti amo. Ho bisogno di te.”**_

She tensed, so he did as well, bracing for her to suddenly understand what he was saying to her. He certainly didn’t expect her to laugh.

Aro leaned back, looking down at her in confusion.

“Sorry,” She said, sucking her lips in for a moment, shaking her head to get control of herself.

“Normally I would know what one would be thinking right now, but I’m afraid I’m at a loss.” He said. 

“I, umm,” She cleared her throat and blushed deeply. “I may have, umm… thought. About this. Yesterday. The, um… Italian, on… yeah.” She gestured about to her neck or jaw, not that it mattered.

The message was there all the same, and Aro couldn’t help but giggle in delight.

“You’ve fantasized about this, how delightful.” He said stepping back at Bella’s scowl. “It’s a terrible shame I can’t see your every thought. I’d have loved to know how reality lived up to the expectations.”

“Shut-” 

He cut her off with another kiss, more brief this time as her heart picked up speed again. After leaving kisses over the too-short trail from her mouth to her jaw, he skimmed his lips up to her ear, and asked, “Would you like to hear about my fantasies, _mia amata?_ ”

“Umm,” Bella’s voice pitched, and he could hear her swallow her breath stuttering.

And then her phone rang, and she was running for it almost as if she had had vampire speed herself.

He couldn’t help but chuckle as she took a couple of breaths before answering her phone.

“Jake?”

“What’s this about a vampire near your house this morning?” He asked, and Bella went on to explain what happened.

As she did, Rosalie and Emmett returned via the balcony. 

Emmett glanced at Isabella, then smirked at Aro.

“Do you know how she really hurt her hand? I’d guess trying to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

“She’s taken on slapping vampires as a hobby,” Aro replied, causing the younger vampire’s smirk to grow. 

“Now why would she start doing something like that?” He asked.

“I would ask Edward,” Aro replied as Alice and Jasper returned as well. 

“No sign of anyone,” Jasper told Aro, the posture of a soldier. Aro nodded once, watching as Carlisle and Esme came back, followed by Edward.

“Nothing,” Carlisle said. “Likely just one that had wandered off.”

“Yeah,” Bella’s voice carried over. “This weekend sounds great.” She said, and Edward groaned quietly. “Yeah, I’ll see you then. Thanks, Jake.” She hung up, then looked around the room, barely meeting anyone’s eye. “You all heard that.”

“Yes,” Carlisle said with a gentle smile. “I think it’s a good idea. Keeps you and Charlie safe, and the rest of us can hunt if we need to, keep up our strength in case anyone else comes by.”

“And you and I will spend the day doing what you _told_ Charlie we did today,” Alice said as she seemed to skip to Bella’s side. “We can even invite the other girls from school, make a day of it.”

“Sure,” Bella said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile and cringing all the while.

“And I’ll take you home now.” Alice added, guiding her to the door. “We’ll tell Charlie you tripped or something to explain your hand.” She said, and Bella waved at everyone over her shoulder. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Aro, and she blushed again, but then she was out the door.

As soon as the car couldn’t be heard any longer, Emmett asked, “Is no one going to point out Bella’s lips were a bit bruised.”

“Emmett,” Esme scolded.

“Just making a point,” Emmett replied, smiling as he raised his hands in mock innocence. “Was pretty sure when we left it was just her hand.”

“Maybe you just didn’t notice,” Esme said as kindly and as reassuring as possible, glancing first to Aro, then to Edward.

Emmett snorted, and Aro turned in time to see Edward give him a truly ferocious glare. Emmett raised his brow in question, but Edward turned with hands fisted toward the stairs. 

As the young man stomped off, Aro casually walked over to Emmett, curiosity getting the better of him.

He didn’t have to sneak the touch, as the brute of a vampire stuck out his hand in what might have been an offer of a “high five.” 

A quick touch of his hand and Aro was flooded with memories. Most mundane, many he had no interest in looking at too long considering who they involved. He was surprised to find Emmett had vehemently disliked the idea of Bella being left behind and was of the mind that she belonged in their world. A joy at coming back to Forks. Uncertainty and distrust of Aro, for the most part, more of the mundane, and then….

Aro smirked, glancing down at Emmett who looked back at him expectantly.

“Your guess at what happened isn’t too far off the mark,” He confessed.

Everyone ignored the sound of something breaking upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I can only hope you don't remain this breakable after the venom.  
> **You beautiful creature. How I adore you so much already. Love you. need you.
> 
> Thank you so much for the continued support the fic is getting. I'm still trying to stay at least a full chapter ahead of myself before posting, and with the long weekend in North America approaching that could mean you either get a new one very soon, or it will be a while still.  
> Until next time!


	14. Chapter 14

“No, but I mean, seriously. You tripped and just, what hit wrong?” Jessica asked as she, Angela, and Alice teased Bella over her braced hand.

Charlie had teased her mercilessly, too. And she was sure when she saw Jacob over the weekend he would have something to say about it, too. Bella the clumsy. Bella who could probably dislocate something sitting down the wrong way. Never something she enjoyed.

But this? Gathered in a restaurant where they gathered for lunch, Alice claiming to want to share with Bella but of course never actually eating anything, Angela and Jessica too busy talking and laughing to notice? It was sorta nice, which made the tease feel less like a jab and more good-natured.

“Yeah,” Bella agreed, glancing at her braced hand, lifting it for a moment as if she was shrugging with it. “But it’s fine, you know? I mean, prom last year I hobbled there in a cast.”

“I can’t believe you guys are skipping it this year,” Angela said, shaking her head. “It’s our last chance.”

“I mean, I get Bella,” Jessica said, sounding both sympathetic and snobbish about it. “I wouldn’t wanna go alone, and if you really don’t want to go with Edward.”

“Definitely not,” Bella said with certainty, taking a sip of her drink. “And I’m not one for dancing anyway. Not a big loss.”

“Jasper doesn’t want to,” Alice said with a shrug. “Especially not with the party happening. He’s not a very social person.”

“Yeah, noticed,” Jessica said with a grin. “So, Alice.” She said as she leaned closer to her intended sharer of gossip. “What does your brother think of Bella’s going to Italy?”

Alice smirked, glancing at Bella in a way that made her more unsettled than being in a room full of vampires ever had.

“He’s positively miserable about it.” She replied. “Especially because I’m _certain_ she’ll be far happier there than she would have been in Alaska.”

“Hot Italian guys instead of ones bundled up in winter clothes all the time?” Jessica said knowingly, “Yeah, I would totally be happier in Italy.”

Angela met Bella’s eye and smirked. “She’s already got her eye on someone.”

That had Bella nearly knocking over her cup. “What?” She asked, startled.

“That guy you told me about? When you came here with Edward last month? The one you said he didn’t like because he was dangerous?”

Alice’s eyes lit up, “Do you know more about that than I do? Because I would love to know.” 

Bella shot her a glare. “I know you know.” She protested.

“Nope!” Alice replied happily. “No one _decided_ to tell me anything. I can only make guesses.”

Bella rolled her eyes, trying to think back to if she went along with Aro impulsively or decisively. But despite it only being a month ago, it also felt a bit like forever ago. Time with Aro always felt too short, but at the same time, it was like she’d known him much longer.

“I don’t know that much,” Angela admitted with a touch of disappointment. “She wouldn’t tell me.”

“Oh, my god. Please don’t tell me it was one of those losers with the bikes from that time we went.” Jessica cut in, glancing at Bella with a pleading look.

“It’s not,” Alice said in a sort of sing-song voice. “I know who Bella was talking about. He’s not a local.”

“Oh, do tell,” Jessica asked. Alice’s smirk only grew, and Bella conceded defeat.

  
  


~*~  
  


“It was awful!” Bella complained the following morning to Aro, marveling at the way his smile seemed to light up the cab of the truck. The rain was coming down too hard for their rendezvous in the woods. Instead, Bella had found a spot off to the side of the road, away from the school, where she could park and still talk to him without anyone noticing him. 

“And yet you’re smiling.” He noted.

“Yeah,” She agreed, glancing out the window. “I never made friends easily. Moved too much, too weird. Too shy, I guess. Jessica, Angela, they were my first real friends.” She shrugged. 

After a beat, Aro asked, “Were you intending on keeping in contact with them?”

“No,” She said immediately. “At least, not for long. Not like dad, you know? I mean, we’ll email, and then studies will get to be too much. We’ll be busy with new friends, new lives, and things will just sort of peter out.”

She could feel him studying her, so wasn’t terribly shocked when his hand reached out to cover hers. “You’re not upset?”

It was a guess, but he could read her well enough she wasn’t surprised he got it right.

“No,” She shook her head, turning her body to face him straight on as best she could in the driver’s seat. “I’ll have Alice still, the rest of the Cullens.” She turned to him, and added cautiously, “you?”

Aro lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Always, _mia cara_.”

She grinned, squeezing his hand a moment. 

“Do you remember? Your human life, I mean? Edward’s said it dulls with time.” She asked, feeling oddly nervous about the answer.

Aro frowned, lowering her hand but not letting go. “I don’t remember a terrible amount of it,” he confessed. “I know I was born in Greece, and I know my family wasn’t well off though we weren’t what anyone would call poor.”

“So you weren’t, like, a prince or something?” Bella asked, grinning in amusement. “You didn’t form the Volturi with a need to keep your standing or something.”

“I was certainly not a prince,” Aro said, then frowned as he seemed to think hard on something. “I think I was an apprentice. I have a vague notion of it. I’m not sure of the trade, whether it was physical or academic. I do recall the desire and drive for success that has certainly carried over. But I also wanted power, control. An apprenticeship often had … interesting conditions attached to them for many years. I don’t believe I objected to them. Sexual intimacy didn’t exactly hold the deeper meaning that it has these last few centuries. Chastity wasn’t exactly something anyone held of value at that time. But I do get the sense that there was _something_ about the apprenticeship that made me feel uneasy. Perhaps it was the politics, perhaps it was something else. That was likely my drive, to make sure there were rules, and I was in control to some degree.”

“Do you think you became a master yourself?” Bella asked.

“I wasn’t terribly old when I was turned.” Aro pointed out, a slight grin on his lips. “So I doubt it.”

She tittered, brushing her hair back, and nodding. Then, more serious, asked, “Do you remember who turned you?”

“No,” Aro said flatly. “The vampire who found me was not the one who sired me, but they ensured I was safe during the transformation, and that I understood what happened to me on the other side.”

“What happened to them?” She asked.

“Destroyed a very, very long time ago,” Aro replied distantly. 

“By you?” She asked nervously.

“Yes.” Aro met her eye. “They attempted to lie to me, tried to tell me that Didyme was simply missing. They’d witnessed her death and destruction, and when they realized it was not what I had intended in my request, believed there was a way they could hide it from me.”

“Aro,” Bella shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s in the past.” He said, but she could tell he was still stung by the memory of it. 

She put her hand on his cheek, and he immediately covered with his own, careful not to put a terrible amount of pressure over her bandaged appendage. He turned his head with eyes closed and kissed the exposed skin of her fingers. 

“You’ll need to get to school.” He told her a moment later. 

“Yeah,” She agreed, displeased at the idea of leaving him. “If I open my window tonight-”

“No,” He told her firmly, but the sparkle was back in his crimson eyes. “It will not happen.”

“Why not?” She asked with a grin.

“Because, _mia_ _cara,_ I recall from Edward’s memories your many nightmares.”

“Alright,” She said cautiously as she withdrew her hand and started to resettle.

“Do you have any idea why that would have happened?” He asked curiously, almost amused.

She shrugged, “Anxiety? Eating ice cream before bed?”

He chuckled. “More your brain understanding that there is something dangerous lingering in the shadows, and you should be very, very frightened.”

She blinked. “Wait.” She blinked again. “Are you saying most of my nightmares… they were _because_ Edward was watching me?”

“Yes,” Aro replied. “At least I would assume so. I know Didyme had nightmares when I visited her, watching over her.”

“But after he left…?”

He sighed. “Your being left behind? I believe that was your disconnect from the world you were meant to belong in.”

She considered that. “I did have less nightmares once Jake started coming around.” She said, then with a snort, added, “I had one once… I don’t remember the details, but it was after Jacob gave me a dream catcher. Charlie thought it might have been working until then.”

“I don’t know every reason behind your night terrors.” He conceded softly. “But I will not linger in the shadows and cause them.”

“Well, nice of you, I guess,” Bella said as she started her truck up again. After the loud roar of the engine died down to a more tolerable level, Bella turned back to Aro and smirked. “So, that’s why you won’t come in if I’m asleep. Why won’t you when I’m awake.”

Aro scowled, “I am nearly four thousand years old, and one of the most powerful vampires in the world. I’m not about to mimic the antics of a century-old boy who thought it was charming and roguish to spend time with you in secret.”

“There was a thrill to it,” Bella confessed as she buckled back up and began to shift gears. “I was always, _always_ the responsible one when I was living with my mother. Edward sneaking in, well… it felt… I dunno. Rebellious, I guess?”

“Well, you shall have to express your rebelliousness another way, because you will not find me in your bedroom until your bedroom is no longer beneath your father’s roof.”

Bella’s heart stuttered, and her jaw dropped as she blushed fiercely at the blatant implication.

“Aro, did you just-” 

The truck door shut, and she looked at the seat next to her and saw it empty. She huffed in frustration.

“You know I’m going to be thinking about that all day!” She shouted, realizing he would have likely heard even if she didn’t say it any louder than her normal voice. But it felt good to yell, and she could always use the excuse of the barrier of the truck and the beat of the rain as to why she did it. Not that she ever had to justify herself with him.

She could almost hear Aro’s delighted laugh in her mind and tried not to smile at the idea of him listening to her from the shadow of the trees.

“If I fail my final, I’m blaming you.” She added, then shifted into drive and headed to the school.

~*~

Friday had been like any of the other non-down pour days, only with a slightly more sullen and sneering Edward.

So when Saturday came, she wasn’t terribly surprised to find it was him who came to get her to bring her to meet up with Jacob. 

Less petulant than last time, she went to the Volvo, got in, buckled up.

And said absolutely nothing.

Edward didn’t start driving either. Instead, he just stared at the white, two-story house as if it had personally offended him.

And they remained that way for five minutes before Bella sighed, got her phone out of her pocket, and texted Jacob to let him know she might be late and why.

_Jake [9:03am]: Sure it’s not another bloodsucker keeping you there?_

_Bella [9:03am]: Would you like photographic evidence?_

_Jake [9:04am]: I thought they couldn’t be photographed._

_Bella [9:04am]: That’s reflection. Also, myth._

“Are you texting him?” Edward asked in a steady voice despite the look in his eyes and the tension in his body.

“Jake? Yeah, he’s waiting for us, remember?” Bella said as she lowered her phone. Then, frowning, asked. “I thought things were getting better between us? I mean, the hospital, after-”

“That was before you let him kiss you,” Edward said, finally getting ready to drive.

For a moment, she thought Edward was talking about Jacob. But she and Edward had interacted with one another plenty since then, and he hadn’t let on how much it had bothered him. Then it clicked.

“How did you-” But she didn’t finish, realizing that maybe Aro couldn’t stop thinking about it, either. It had her smirk a bit to herself. “Right.” 

“I’m not angry with you, Bella,” Edward assured as they began their journey. “I know it’s not like you can fight him off.”

“Who said I wanted to?” She asked in return, turning to him and fully expecting an argument.

Edward seemed ready to start and then deflated. “I suppose no one.” He agreed, nodding. “And, I suppose, yes… I left. I broke up with you. I shouldn’t have a say in who you’re with. But, Bella,” he huffed a mirthless laugh, “I love you. I am drawn to you more than I have ever been drawn to anything or anyone. I can’t _be_ without you.”

“And yet you had no desire to change me.”

“I want you to have more human experiences.” He argued. “But if it’s really what you want, I will change you. You don’t need to go to Italy or Aro. He’s just using you anyway.”

“What makes you think that?” She questioned, trying not to be too outwardly annoyed at him.

Edward glanced at her in what might have been sympathy.

“You’re going to be gifted.” He said to her. “Like Alice, like me.”

“Right.” She said dubiously.

“Aro collects powered vampires. Has gone to great lengths to get them.”

“Yes, we’ve discussed this.” She nodded once.

Edward continued to stare at her. “You know he only wants you for his guard.” He said pointedly. “I’ve seen in his mind, he pictures you with a crest around your neck, like all the others.”

“Mmmhmm,” Bella nodded slowly, turning to look out the window. “Okay. Right, so him kissing me in your house…?” She questioned.

“I know you like him,” Edward said as he started to slow down the car, still a way out from the meet spot. “And he knows it, too. He might even like you, too. But Bella, he’s never bothered with a mate. Not in a very long time, and it’s rumored he killed her when she tried to leave him. All he has ever been shown to care about is power, and he will do whatever it takes to have it and maintain it. He might say pretty things, he might even act romantic. But has he ever said how he feels about you?” The truth must have come through in her features for a moment, because Edward added, “He hasn’t, has he? He’s probably never even spoken of a future involving you aside from changing you. It’s because he wants you for what you’ll become. Just like he wants Alice and me.”

Bella shook her head. “And what if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not,” Edward said with certainty, turning back to the road. “And even if I am, even if he does actually feel something for you, it won’t last. He goes back to Italy after all this is done. Next week. And you likely won’t cross his mind again until you go there to be changed.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “So, I’m either desired for my power or forgettable.” 

“To him,” Edward said quickly, glancing at her again. “Not to me. I couldn’t forget you. When I left I tried to outrun your memory, put it behind me. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t forget you or how you made me feel. Because you and I? We’re meant to be. And I hurt you, I know I did. And I know I haven’t done much to make up for that, but I’m trying. Right now, that’s in trying to protect your heart.” 

He sounded so incredibly confident, so absolutely certain, that Bella felt uneasy. What if he was right?

Part of her wanted to just brush it all aside because this was just Edward trying to twist things his way. Trying to _get_ his way. But… well, she was fairly normal. A no one. Yes, Aro had said he had missed her, but he also admitted to doing what it took to get what he wanted. She recalled all the times they were together, all the wonderful little moments, but then Edward pointing out how Aro never expressed his feelings in a way that couldn’t be argued echoed over them. But what had Aro said that night? He spoke Italian when he wanted to express things he didn’t think she could handle yet. What was he saying? Was it a confession of undying love, or was it all the ways she would be of use?

 _This is what Edward wanted_ , Bella tried to remind herself. _He wants you to doubt._

Edward slowed down and stopped, and then Bella looked up to see Jake waiting where he had before.

“Be careful. And I’ll see you tonight when I come get you.” Edward said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m going to ask Jake to drive me back.” She said, getting out of the Volvo as quick as she could, running to the comforting arms of her best non-vampire friend. 

As soon as Jacob had his hold on her, he glanced at the car and grit out, “You’re shaking.”

“Yeah,” Bella acknowledged. “Just… something he said. I don’t want to talk about it.” She rushed to add, and Jacob didn’t push.

~*~

What Bella had needed was a distraction, and Jacob did not disappoint. At least not in the beginning.

The sun was intense, perfect for their time at the beach with the other members of the pack, although Sam was off a ways with Emily, and another one - Jared - had been a bit on his own with a girl who looked about his age.

But the others roughhoused, goofing off and kicking up sand to the point that Bella was sure she’d get some in her eye. It’s about then that Jacob, who had been a little tense and a bit distant, suggested they go for a walk.

The sound of the others had faded to background noise, and Bella could see they were a bit away from the pack. Far enough away that she hoped maybe she could ease whatever was on Jacob’s mind, give him some privacy at least before he phased again.

“It’s beautiful here,” She pointed out before looping her good arm around one of Jacob’s. At his hum in agreement, Bella looked up to see he was still very lost in thought. “Okay, seriously, what’s wrong? Do I smell that bad of vampire?”

“What?” Jacob perked up. “No. I mean, yeah, sorta, but it’s not that.”

“So… what is it?” She asked.

Jacob seemed to hesitate. “Do vampires… imprint?”

Bella blinked. “Sorry, do they what?”

“Imprint?” Jacob repeated like Bella should know exactly what he’s talking about. When she raised her brows, shaking her head slightly, he huffed and blushed. Running his hand through his hair, he said, “guess it is just a wolf thing.”

“Okay,” Bella dragged out the word, laughing nervously. “Do you mind enlightening me?”

Jacob sighed heavily, glancing over his shoulder. “Imprinting… it’s not something we have control over. Like, Sam imprinted on Emily, but he was engaged to Leah before that. Leah, of course, is Emily’s cousin.” 

“Right,” Bella said, glancing over her shoulder. 

They were too far away to really see, but she knew that Emily and Sam were happily smiling, leaning on one another. And Leah, well, she hadn’t exactly been all that warm to Bella but she also wasn’t with anyone else.

“Wait,” Bella said, “you guys hear everything when you phase, so that means….”

“Yeah.” Jacob sounded pained. “We all have to live the Leah, Sam, Emily painfest.”

“That sucks.” Bella sympathized, squeezing Jacob’s arm. “I mean… I suppose it sort of chooses you sometimes.”

“It’s more than that.” Jacob sighed again, his free hand moving in a circle as if trying to find the words. “It’s… it’s like when you see her, everything changes. All of a sudden it’s not gravity holding you to the planet, it’s her. Nothing else matters, you would do anything, be anything for her.”

“You sound like you know what it’s like,” Bella said, leaning a bit away from him.

He chuckled, his sun-bright smile coming out as he glanced at her. “I didn’t imprint on you. I haven’t on anyone. I just know because I have a direct line to Sam’s thoughts. And Jared’s. Sat next to that girl every day in class for a year. First day back after phasing and it was just… instant.”

“Huh,” Bella said, not sure what more she could add to the conversation. “So, why did you ask…?”

Jacob’s smile faded a bit, and he looked down at the sand, his feet kicking at it.

“I… look, I don’t know…. I mean I do, but….”

“Jake,” Bella said firmly, tugging a bit at his arm. 

He groaned. “Look, I don’t like you being… one of them. I hate it, actually. But… you at least admitted you love me. And I know, I know, it’s not enough. I get it, sorta. So I’ve been watching how you are with them, at least as much as I can. And I… fuck it, Bella, I had to know if the freaky one imprinted on you.”

She stopped, Jacob only following suit probably to keep her falling face-first into the sand.

“What?” She asked. Laughing incredulously and blushing like mad, she asked, “What would make you think that?”

Jacob looked at the sky, moving his arm out of her grasp so he could rub both hands down his face roughly. “He… looks at you.”

“He looks at me?”

“Yes.” Jacob nodded as though the words pained him. “And he sees you.”

“Well… he does have eyes.” She ventured when Jacob paused.

He gave her an exasperated look, then shook his head and pulled at his hair. “When I first met him, he was weird. Plus there was all the instincts and stuff. And I didn’t really notice how he was with you, but all the other times you’ve been in the same space together he just… moves with you. Edward, it’s like a push and pull, he tries to get close, you back away. I don’t think that’s how it was before he left, but now? I mean,” he huffed, adorably, and Bella couldn’t help but smirk. “It’s like you’re the Earth, okay? You’re the Earth, and… no. No, you’re just, like… a planet. And Edward is a black hole, with all his intense gravity, trying to pull you in. And maybe you went, for a bit, but now his power is dying out, and you…. But Aro? He’s like a moon, orbiting _you_ , and it’s… a really stupid way of explaining all this.” Jacob shook his head, and when Bella laughed, so did he. “But do you get what I’m saying?”

“I do,” Bella replied, toeing at the sand. “Just… Edward pointed out he might only want me for what I’ll become.”

“And what do _you_ think?” Jacob asked.

“I think… that he wants me for me,” Bella said simply, shrugging. “Not sure why, but.”

“Hence why I asked about imprinting,” Jacob said with a tilt of his head. Then much more seriously, said, “I’ll never be okay with you being a vampire. I’ll always hate that I wasn’t enough for you. But, crazy as it sounds, I’d trust you to the freaky one way more than the Cullen.”

Bella smirked. “He has a name. You’ve even said it. Two syllables, three letters. Ar-o.” 

Jacob scoffed, taking her hand in his again. “What sorta name is that, anyway?”

“An old one. Like, really old. From, like, super ancient Greece.” 

“What is with you and old guys?” Jacob teased. 

“I dunno,” She said, pretending to think about it. “But I mean, the last guy I dated was only a hundred, but he was so immature. But Aro, he’s nearly four thousand, so I mean….” 

“Four _thousand_?” Jake repeated, and at the mix of awe, disgust, intrigue, and terror on his face, Bella laughed.

~AB~

Balance.

It was the only reason Aro was in the Cullen home, watching as Jasper and Emmett played some sort of electronic game on the television, fascinated at how the pair of them went through two of the controllers each already when they got too frustrated. He could be out waiting for Isabella to return from her time with Jacob, but instead, he had to hear Esme chide the vampires on the sofa for breaking their toys like a proper mother. 

Upstairs, he could hear the debate between Rosalie and Alice, the former thinking the latter was just inviting unnecessary trouble with having so many humans in their home. Why this particular graduation had to be so different from the others. And more lowly, why it felt like it was for Bella’s sake when she wasn’t even _with_ Edward. Aro assumed she thought she couldn’t be heard and had debated saying something for a long while.

Balance.

He could sit in one of the sitting room chairs, possibly one of the most ornate in the room, one leg crossed over the other. He could refrain from offending the Cullens with commenting on the eldest daughter’s utter shallowness, wonder aloud how her mate could be so full of life and joy while she was nothing but a bitter mess. He could wonder at how it hadn’t been a mate connection between her and Edward after all, for they certainly carried enough self-loathing between the pair of them.

And, of course, Aro could enjoy the time away from the only other mind reader, one that had a live feed should he tune in properly. He could let his thoughts drift without needing to mask them, recalling moments stolen with Isabella. How he would court her, even if he had never explicitly stated that that was what he was doing. How he wanted to woo her, charm her, seduce her, allow her to follow the connection between them naturally so when she wakes in her next life she wasn’t terribly surprised to find herself wanting to stay with him.

If she didn’t fight the bond, that was. 

There was a possibility that she would rail against it, especially if he didn’t tell her soon what it was that drew them to each other. Why they could converse so easily about nearly anything, why she knew he couldn’t hurt her. He couldn’t allow the next opportunity to pass without discussing it. Not before he left, and not in fleeting moments before she would have to be somewhere else.

But, balance. He knew it would ease Carlisle’s mind if he felt Edward had equal time with Bella. He could see that Carlisle doubted the bond, could see how he was more inclined to believe his son and his certainty that Bella belonged with him. 

Tonight would have been the best chance to explain this all to her before the days got away from them. But, instead, he had to hope a space of time would present itself that wasn’t snippets of time alone in her truck. 

When Edward returned home about thirty minutes later, he merely gave Aro the tiniest of smirks. 

“How’s Bella?” Esme asked from somewhere else in the house.

“She’s wonderful,” Edward replied with a subtle smugness to his voice. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go hunt.” He said before heading for the doors to the patio and stepping out.

Movement caught Aro’s eye, and he turned his focus to Jasper who mouthed something he couldn’t quite make out from the angle Aro was sitting in. He thought, however, that the empath had formed the word “liar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, your support of this fic astounds me and I appreciate it all.  
> The chapter I started working on last night involved the graduation party, so you can get an idea where we are story wise. I'm still unsure if I want to keep this half of the story completely separate from the next. While I won't be touching the idea of human-vampire off spring, it will be darker, and there will be conflict.  
> Anyway, until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

Charlie was still out of the house on Sunday, but it was so brilliantly sunny that no vampires would likely come out of the shadows. Still, she sent a message to Aro’s phone, asking if he was watching the house. She tidied up around the kitchen, not that there was a terrible amount to do. She went up, straightened her graduation robes and hat for the ceremony on Tuesday. Bella did everything she could to keep herself busy but still found it difficult not to want to check her phone for an answer.

Her talk with Jacob on the beach had given her something to think about. Edward said it was all make-believe, that she would see she was always meant to be his. Jacob seemed less inclined to believe such a thing. And Bella had no idea what to think. She desperately wanted to shove what Edward said in a box, bury it, and never think about it again. But even after what Jacob had said, it lingered in her mind like a song she couldn’t quite get out of her head.

When her phone finally did ping, she pulled it out of her pocket so quickly she nearly dropped the hearty little device. 

Then her heart fell at the message.

 _Aro [9:31am] Sorry to disappoint, mia cara. The honor belongs to Edward and Emmett_.

She growled and was oddly tempted to look out the window and glare. Still, if it was Edward with Emmett….

_Bella: [9:35am] I want to see you._

If Edward tried anything weird upon sensing or seeing Aro, Emmett could stop him. Or, maybe, at least act as a buffer. She wasn’t sure how Emmett actually felt regarding Aro, and for all she knew he would hold _her_ back, but it was worth the chance. They didn’t have long left before he returned home, and Bella wanted -no, _needed_ \- to know where she stood with him before he did. She refused to be in the same town as Edward Cullen, listening to his silken voice as it put words of doubt in her head and heart while she was uncertain.

When her phone pinged again, she was disappointed and very confused by what she saw.

_Alice [9:39am] Be there in five, get ready._

Ready for what? She had in no way agreed to any outings with Alice, though she probably wouldn’t oppose one. Still, the sun would mean she would be unable to go out in the sun. Italy had been one thing, with the gloves and scarf and sunglasses, but in Port Angeles? Seattle? No, it simply wouldn’t fly here.

It didn’t stop Bella from putting on her shoes, grabbing her jacket, her keys, and heading out the front door just as the porsche pulled into the driveway. She dashed to the passenger side, certain that Edward and Emmett were about to call and ask Alice what was up with no way for them to leave the tree line without catching the sun on their skin.

She even thought she heard the rustling of trees and bushes before she climbed in and shut the door, looking for them among the green and not seeing anything.

“Right, so what are we-” She stopped when she turned to the driver.

Aro smiled back. 

“Oh, I love Alice,” Bella said, shaking her head as she buckled up.

“I must admit I’m quite fond of her as well,” Aro said as he shifted the gears and backed out of the driveway, Edward and Emmett being just visible through the trees if she squinted. 

As Aro shifted gears again, beginning the slightly too-fast drive away from the house, he said, “I had only just received your second message when she appeared at my side with her keys. She simply said ‘you’re welcome’ and left before I could catch a glimpse of what she saw.”

Bella’s laugh might have been a touch on the wicked side, but Aro certainly didn’t comment on it. “So, where are we running away to?”

“Would you run away with me, Isabella?” He asked in turn.

“Pretty sure that’s what I’m doing at the end of August.” She countered. 

“I suppose it is. How about we travel with no destination in mind. We simply drive. And if you have a human need, we’ll stop where we need to.” 

“I like the idea.” She nodded before chewing her lip. “And maybe we can talk?” 

Aro looked at her. “Yes.” He agreed. “We most certainly will.”

~AB~

“How was your ride home with Edward last night?” He started, deciding it best not to begin the day with a conversation about the bond. 

Bella scoffed, “I didn’t get a ride home with him last night. I had Jacob drive me.” She replied, and Aro frowned, looking back at the road for only a moment.

“Edward returned home, informed us you were… well, I guess Jasper had said he was a liar after all.” Aro mused aloud.

Bella smirked only briefly, then sobered once more. She focused on her hands, wringing them, rubbing one over her leg. Aro frowned at the gesture and got the sense that something wasn’t right. “What is it?” He asked gently.

“I,” Bella started then stopped with a sigh. “I don’t know how to ask without sounding… needy? But I don’t know if that’s right. And I mean, you could just tell me what I want to hear, and I’ll never know. Except, my gut tells me you aren’t going to lie to me. Because you haven’t once. You could have made yourself look so much better at any point in any conversation, but you haven’t. And I just….” She huffed. Her face scrunching up. “Do you… care about me? Like, really care? Or, no. I mean. Do you have… do you?” She pressed her lips together in a frustrated, angry gesture as she blushed deeply.

Instincts told him to tread very carefully in how he proceeded. “I care very deeply for you, Isabella.” He said, watching her reaction in his peripheral. It would give her the semblance of privacy as she processed this, should she need it. And, perhaps, spare her from the sheer intensity he knew it would project. 

“Right.” She said, clipped but not angry. “And… if when I’m changed, if I turn out to be ordinary? Like, no powers, just Bella?”

“You will be powerful.” He assured.

“Yeah, but if I’m not? If it’s just a weird fluke, some bad wiring, that makes all the mind readers not break in? Would you still care for me then?”

She asked the question almost meekly that Aro frowned. He looked at her directly again, seeing the trepidation and uncertainty in her posture. “What has the boy said to you?” He asked, a bit of his displeasure at the young Cullen leaking into his voice.

Bella snapped her head in his direction and promptly turned pale. Her eyes widened before filling with a worrying terror, and Aro sensed the slight tremor coming from her body. 

By now, they were a ways out of Forks, heading North toward the mountains. Edward, if he had decided to follow, would have lost them by now with no scent to trace. So, feeling this was absolutely necessary (and vowing to himself to pay for any damages done to Alice’s car) Aro abruptly pulled into a little dirt road off the highway that didn’t look to be used for much of anything these days. He parked just under the shade of some trees, then left the car. He zipped over to Bella’s side, opened the door, and unlatched her belt.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, _mia cara._ ” He said, gently taking her hands in his and being mindful of the bandage. When Bella just continued to look at him with hurt, frightened, and confusion, he asked, “May we, perhaps, move into the shade? I fear I might be exposed here.”

Bella nodded, but withdrew her hands and made to get out of the car herself. He let her, merely holding the door open and closing it for her. Once she seemed ready, he gestured for her to lead them, and Bella did slowly, going into the shelter of the trees but only just enough for the sun not to hit him. 

He watched her fidget with the hem of her shirt, refraining from taking her into his arms like he needed to. 

“I’m sorry,” He said, hoping it would get her to talk. “I say you forget what I am, yet I forget now and then to temper my movements around you.”

She nodded once, an acknowledgment, but didn’t move any closer to him.

“Why,” She began, looking at the car and not him. “Why would you jump to Edward saying something? In the car, when I asked… why would you assume he said something?”

“Because you only doubt me when he has.” He replied as tenderly as his simmering rage at the boy allowed. 

“Right, makes sense,” Bella replied nervously, her lip under assault from her teeth. “It’s just… can you answer? The question from before?” She half pleaded, still not looking at him.

Aro cautiously stepped toward her, carefully took her face in his hands, gently tilted it toward him, and looked her in the eye. 

“I’m sure you will be gifted. But if you are not, I will still love you with all that I am, Isabella.” 

Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened to let out the tiniest and quietest of gasps. 

Aro placed a kiss on the side of her mouth, just on the corner. “I have waited many thousands of years for you. But I will understand if it’s too much.”

“Too much?” Bella repeated, a bit dazed.

“For now, you’re human. But, despite the wicked, evil creatures myths and legends have made us out to be, vampires tend to feel things much more strongly, deeply, than a human. You might sense some sort of draw or connection to me now. That connection, when you change, will be all the more clearer.”

After a moment, she whispered. “So you did imprint on me.”

Aro stared at her. “I what?” He asked.

“Imprint,” Bella repeated with more confidence. “Like, you saw me, and it wasn’t gravity holding you here, it was…. Never mind.”

“Imprint,” Aro repeated the word, finding it weird and wrong in his mouth. “No, not… not quite, I don’t think. It’s more that once I met you, looked into your eyes, saw your soul, I didn’t want to be without you. It’s that I love you without ever having to try.”

“Soul mates.” She said as if tasting the word, and he couldn’t help but hum quietly in agreement. She huffed a bit of incredulous laughter, shaking her head in his hold. “That’s… it’s…. I can’t.” Bella stepped away, putting her hands in her hair as she turned away from him.

Aro watched her, keeping still despite wanting nothing more than to keep her close. 

It was the first time in his very, very long life that he could remember feeling helpless. He had hoped she would have smiled, delighting in the knowledge that he loved her. He had hoped her worries would be gone in an instant, knowing the truth. Instead, he watched his mate move like a caged animal, trying to find an escape.

She turned to him then, but didn’t look right at him. “You told me. You said I didn’t have to stay with you in Italy if I went. That once I was turned I could come back, or go off on my own.”

“And I meant that.” He said firmly. “ _Mia-_ Isabella, I …. My heart is yours. I give it freely and gladly. But if you don’t want to give me yours, if you would prefer I leave and you never see me again, I will obey your wishes.” It was painful to say it, everything in him rioted against the statement, demanding he assert himself at her side, keep her close, give her _no_ choice. It was only because it would ultimately make her happy - should leaving be what she wanted - that allowed him to tamp it all down. “You must become a vampire, it is expected and demanded by the laws. That can not be altered, and to go against the demand will bring devastation to the Cullens. But I can send along someone else to verify your transformation, I will ensure I never lay eyes on you again if it’s what you want.”

She stopped her pacing, hands falling to her side as she looked out to the road.

“I… I used to think Edward and I were meant to be.” She said after a bit. “I thought _we_ were soul mates. And when I got to Volterra, and I saw him near the castle, I realized it wasn’t what I thought. And now you’re saying we’re soul mates, and… I can read between the lines of all the things from before. You think I stopped loving him because I was near you, don’t you?” She looked at him then, a sad accusation in her eyes. “So did I _really_ stop loving him? Are you going to leave and suddenly I’m going to realize I want to be with him after all?”

“Did you stop loving Jacob?” He asked her in turn. 

She blinked. “No,” She shook her head. “If I’m honest, I only realized -or maybe admitted - to myself that I loved him when I saw Edward.”

“You were already falling for the wolf. You said yourself that your nightmares had started to fade with Jacob. I believe, painful as it is for me to say, that if I left now and never returned, you would be more inclined to be with him than Edward.”

Bella’s brow furrowed and she looked away again. “If Edward never came back. If… if Alice didn’t see me jumping and thought I died…. But the second she was back, the moment she told me Edward needed me I dropped everything. I had to be at his side. Until I didn’t.”

“I don’t have the answers you want.” He confessed. “I don’t know why you had to go to him then. I want to believe it was out of your love for the Cullens, but I can’t presume. I can’t say that your being near my home is what washed away the feelings, or if it was just an epiphany you came to.”

“How do I know anything I feel is real?” She asked softly. 

There was no answer he could give her that didn’t sound like it was placating. Seeing Isabella seem so lost, so beautifully, terribly human made him ache worse than the deepest thirst.

“I left the keys in the ignition.” He said just loud enough for her to hear. Bella turned toward him slightly, peeking at him apprehensively. “ When you leave I’ll run along the side of the highway, though I will ask that you call Alice, Carlisle, Jacob, someone and keep them on the line until you make it back home. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to stay close the entire way.”

~AB~ 

He was gone in a blink.

_No! No, no, please, please don’t._

“You left.” She said softly, her heart crawling up in her throat.

“No,” his voice came from a distance, and Bella searched the area for a sign of him somewhere. “No, I won’t leave. But I will give you the space you need away from me. I’ve upset you, and it is the last thing I wanted.”

Then she spotted him, or maybe he came back. He was a dark shade among the trees, a spot of white from his pale skin that gave a slight shimmer where the sun came through a bit brighter.

“Please don’t,” She said, hating how she sounded like she was begging.

She hated all of this. Loathed that one of her favorite romantic notions had been so utterly spoiled. She should be thrilled at the idea that she had a soul mate. A _soul mate,_ and it was one of the most complex, interesting, challenging people she’d ever met. She wanted to bask in it. But Edward had said so many times they were made for each other, she and him. Only yesterday he had said that he couldn’t be without her, that they were meant to be together. That Aro’s affections weren’t real, and he only meant to use her.

Bella rubbed at her face, pulled her hair, mused briefly on whether it was a habit picked up from Jacob, or Jacob from her. But thoughts of him had her thinking of the months after Christmas, when she and Jacob re-established their friendship, had it grow deeper, found something surprising and real within it. 

“Can I just,” She started to say as she closed her eyes, hoping when she opened him Aro wouldn’t be gone.

“Take all the time you need,” Aro said back, calm and collected despite how he would have had to project his voice for her to hear. “I won’t leave.”

Bella nodded, then dropped her hands to her side, pacing in a relatively small space. 

Volterra. No, before that, when Alice showed up. 

It had been a shock, she had been so overwhelmed to have Alice back in her life so suddenly. And while it hurt that Edward wasn’t with her, it hurt just as much that she was the only Cullen who had come back. Especially if they all believed she was dead.

She still loved Jacob the day after, when Alice had come back to bear the news of Edward’s intent. She tried to focus on the sick feeling that had formed in the pit of her stomach at the news, tried to remember what it was that coursed through her. Heartbreak, yes, but what of the strength? Was it the crippling pain that had left her comatose for months, or something less? She tried to remember how she felt on the flight, on the way to the city. What drove her? 

She could recall the nervous way she sat on the plane, trying to understand why Edward would go to the Volturi to end his life just because hers was over? Worried about Alice’s not so subtle nervousness that they wouldn’t make it.

Did Bella love Edward in those moments? She told Jacob she did. Edward left her, yet she was going to go save him because she loved him. That was absolutely the truth.

But she wasn’t _in_ love with him.

It was a punch to the gut, but also sweet wonderful relief to realize. At some point in those days with Jacob, long hours spent together, she stopped being in love with Edward Cullen. She had gotten over him well before Alice returned, and before she stepped foot in Italy.

Once she caught her breath, so to speak, she turned to where Aro’s silhouette remained a few hundred feet away. 

She had loved another vampire to an unhealthy degree. And then he left, destroying her, and leaving her to pick up the pieces. 

She began to fall in love with a werewolf, but it hadn’t been enough.

And then she met Aro. 

Closing her eyes, she could remember how she felt something shift in her when she met his eyes for the first time. The comfort and trust she hadn’t felt before, not even completely with Edward. It wasn’t love at first sight, she hadn’t wanted to throw herself in his arms, she was able to walk away from him. There was no compulsion, not force, just a slow, steady drip of something spectacular that started the moment red irises met brown. 

“Can we not call it soul mates?” She asked, opening her eyes again. “Can it just be me falling for you? Can it just be my knowing how you feel, and you knowing I feel that way I just can’t say it yet?”

“I’ll give you anything you want,” Aro told her. “All of me or none, friendship or more.”

“A kiss?” She asked, and startled violently when he was suddenly _there_.

He grinned, laughing quietly at her despite her scowling while she willed her heart to calm down.

When his grin didn’t fade, she fisted her hands in the lapels of his jacket and pulled herself up to kiss him.

~AB~ 

They stayed in the woods for a while, and when Bella finally needed more than a moment to breathe, they got back into the car and back out on the road. They stopped at a spot in Port Angeles where Bella had taken care of her human needs, and then they continued on, looping back toward Forks.

And while he drove, she covered his hand on the gear shift with hers.

“What are we?” She asked at one point. “I mean, you’re a bit old for a girlfriend.”

“We’re whatever you’d like to be, _mia cara._ ” He replied easily, turning his hand to bring hers to his lips. “Though I confess the thought of you calling me your boyfriend seems painfully ridiculous.”

She snickered. “Yeah, well, you are old. Like, literally ancient. How is it that I’ve only really been super attracted to guys who were born before sliced bread was a thing?”

“I’d mention something about your soul, but that wasn’t well-received before.” He quipped, pleased to have gotten a laugh out of her.

“My super-secret Italian lover?” She suggested impishly.

“I do so enjoy the implications of that.” He said as he lowered her hand to rest on his leg at his knee. 

“My Greecian god? You were born there, after all.” She teased before wrinkling her nose. “Maybe not, actually. Reminds me what I used to think of Edward.”

“Probably for the best.” He assured. “I’m sure someone would say something about my ego, you calling me a god.” He countered, adoring her snigger.

“Yeah,” She conceded, her hand running up and down his leg, moving a bit higher than he would have expected it.

“Isabella,” He said her name like a warning that held little caution and far too much intrigue.

“Are you scared of losing control with me?” She asked curiously. “When we kiss?”

He glanced down at her hand. “I fear if your appendage inches any higher I may lose control of the vehicle.” He glanced at her, and she obediently shifted it lower. “I know why you ask, and I will say this: not in the same way. I fear changing you before I should. I know my strength, and it’s hardly like I’m going to be overwhelmed by how new it all is. Pleasure is intoxicating, yes, and it is easy enough to lose one’s self in it. But I’m not afraid to break you, Bella.”

“That’s good to know.” She said with genuine relief. 

“Was that a genuine worry?” He asked curiously. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?”

“If you knew why I asked, then you _know_ that’s not true.” She countered as Forks started coming into view.

“That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have some trepidations.” He countered, putting his hand over hers again. “After all, you sprained your hand merely giving a playful swat. Imagine what sort of injuries you could cause yourself attempting-”

“Yes,” She cut in, blushing. “I get it.” 

He could feel a question dying to be asked as they neared her home, but it never left her lips. When he pulled into the driveway, he parked, and turned toward her.

“I don’t suppose I’ll see you at graduation?” She hedged. At the simple arch of his brow, she nodded once. “Of course not.”

“You may find me around the Cullen house afterward.” He confessed. 

“Really?” She asked, hopeful and uncertainty mixed together.

“I have a gift for you.” He told her. “I would like to give it to you if that’s alright.”

“And you can’t give it to me before?”

“I could.” He agreed. “But I would rather not.”

She huffed, but there was no heat behind it. “So, I’ll see you then?” She asked.

“You will.” He agreed.

Bella unbuckled her seat belt, but instead of going for the door, she turned toward him. 

Stretching across the seat, she braced her hands on his shoulders and kissed him again.

Aro didn’t waste a second before grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into his lap.

She giggled, then started laughing, and as vexed as he was that she would do this _now_ , he was charmed and warmed by the sound all the same.

“Are you _sure_ you can’t read my mind?” She asked as she pushed her hair out of her face.

“If I could, I would know precisely what my young lover was thinking about during such an intimate moment to make her laugh.” He said as he ran his hands up her sides, fingertips dragging over the cotton of her shirt beneath her jacket. He went to lean in and resume their previous activity but caught a flash of something in the trees. Growling, Aro gently slid Bella back in her seat just as Edward came into view.

The boy narrowed his eyes then relaxed, probably not having seen what had transpired beforehand.

“Did he see that?” Bella asked, glancing over her shoulder but not seeming to see where he was. 

“I would wager he didn’t. If next you see me I’m missing an appendage, then he was faster than I had thought.” 

Bella nodded, then turned back to Aro. She twitched, like she was going to lean in, then groaned and got out of the car. He watched her make her way to the door, both to draw out having her in his sight as well as making sure she didn’t trip, and then she was inside the house. He heard the door lock and then left.

When he pulled into the garage of the Cullen house, Alice was waiting on the stairs to the house with a very pleased, very smug smile on her face. He paused in front of her, noting her hands were gloved as she held them out to him.

“What can I give you?” He asked as he dropped the keys in her palm. “What is it that I can offer? You have seen all the possibilities, and you still choose to aid me. I want to know what I can give to show my gratitude.”

Alice stood on the step to bring herself eye level with Aro.

“Keep her happy.” She said before her smile grew. “And let me see it. Just once before you give it to her and she likely tucks it away where no one can see it.”

“An interesting request.” He replied. “But I’ll not deny it, so long as you by no means intend to damage it.”

“I’m not my brother.” She said, offended. 

Aro giggled, “Come along, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a bit of a cliffhanger, but I've been plowing through the chapters lately, so it might only be another day or two before you find out what Alice is talking about.  
> Until then!


	16. Chapter 16

Charlie brought her to the Cullen house just after graduation, Bella having insisted on dinner before the big event. Graduation was exactly what she had expected. An honorific in English, her scholarship to Volterra university had been somehow brought to the attention of the principal and announced like everyone else’s, and then shortly after the ceremony was over. It hadn’t been a tearful experience, though Charlie had been a bit more emotional than normal.

Of course, he tried to say she would understand when she had children one day, to which Bella mumbled how she wasn’t planning on kids. He hadn’t seemed to mind all that much, or maybe he hadn’t heard. Still, it was best for both of them that she go over ahead of everyone else and give her dad space to sort of settle on his own.

There hadn’t been all that many cars on the road, a good sign that no one had made their way to the house just yet. She snickered a bit at the balloons at the end of the too-long driveway to signal the turnoff.

“Jake’s supposed to come by later.” She mentioned as they began to weave their way through the woods. 

Charlie looked surprised. “Guess Alice won her argument.”

“Right,” Bella said as she looked to her lap, hiding her grin. “Forgot you heard all that.”

A moment later, Charlie slowed and stopped at the end of the drive.

“He’s new.” He said suspiciously, and Bella looked up to see Aro on the deck looking down at them. 

He looked different. She couldn’t really put her finger on why from where she was. It wasn’t his hair, exactly, though it looked like it was half-up like it had been when she first met him in Volterra. It was something else.

“He’s a relative.” She said suddenly. “Here for the graduation.”

“Right,” Charlie said, seemingly not believing it. “Whose side, exactly?”

“Not sure, probably Esme, though.” She said as Alice came out of the house and skipped over to the cruiser.

Immediately Charlie smiled and was out of the cruiser before Bella could think better than to tell him not to. She followed him out. 

“Hello, Charlie!” Alice greeted eagerly.

“Alice, congratulations.” He said warmly in turn. 

“Thank you,” She replied sweetly, following Charlie’s glance at the balcony. “Oh, don’t mind Aro,” She said, waving it off. “He’s a bit elusive.”

“Right,” Charlie said, seemingly weary. He shook it off, though, and then turned to Bella and clapped her on the shoulder. “Have fun, stay safe.”

“Thanks, dad,” Bella said, giving him one last quick hug before he got back in the cruiser and left.

Bella turned to head inside as soon as Charlie started pulling away, Alice taking her by the arm as if she needed a guide.

“The others are currently out for a hunt, a quick top-up before the house is flooded with humans,” Alice said as they meandered inside. “I went much earlier in the day, knowing all the preparations still to be made. I have a few more to do, actually. Finishing touches and all.”

“Do you need my help?” Bella asked, realizing after that she wouldn’t be able to do one task at the speed that Alice could probably do twenty.

“No.” Alice smiled like she knew exactly what Bella was thinking. “While the party is going on, most of the others will discuss the plans for going to Seattle, finalize them now that we don’t have schedules to stick to. Carlisle requested this week off from the hospital, saying we’re going to go see Rosalie and Emmett for their getaway wedding and all.” She gave a fond eye roll at the last bit. “So, since a certain someone will be preoccupied.” 

They only just made it to the front door when it was opened revealing exactly who Bella suspected Alice meant by a certain someone. 

“You’re not wearing a jacket,” Bella said, finally placing what was different with Aro.

“I was informed,” He said with a glance at Alice, “that it would look rather odd should any of the humans see me. That I needed to look a bit more casual.”

It wasn’t a terrible look on him, really. Still in black, still with the finely tailored trousers, the golden crest around his neck, and the monochrome of black fabric. But he was wearing a sweater, well fitted and somehow as dressy on him as it should have been the casual he was trying to achieve. 

“It works,” Bella said with a slow nod, taking him in from head to toe once more even as she blushed. 

“I’ll leave you two for a bit,” Alice said cheerfully before skipping inside past Aro and disappearing into a blur.

When she was gone, Bella looked Aro in the eye, examining the shade of red.

“And are you going to be alright?” She asked.

“I went out earlier myself,” He replied, taking her hand and leading her inside. 

They moved through the house, heading upstairs to a spare room Bella hadn’t had much cause to see in the past. 

“I’m informed that this was meant to be your room,” he said as he brought her in. She noted the bed, simple yet elegant in the middle of the room. A dresser and vanity off to the side, and a large window giving a picturesque view of the woods. “Given I’ve not much cause for the bed, it’s merely a place I’ve kept my possessions while I stayed here. Clothing, mostly.”

“I… didn’t know I was given a room.” She said, turning about and taking it all in. The linens were white, delicate threads of gold and lilac seen when they caught the light just right. The furniture looked like sturdy antiques, stained a dark color either on purpose or with time. 

“I believe it was Alice and Esme’s doing,” He explained from just inside the doorway. “They wanted you to have a space to retreat to, to rest, when you had come to the house. I’m given to understand it was made when they returned, hoping that you would have cause to use it. And, given that it was expected for you to be changed, a spot for you to go once you were among the coven.”

That made Bella wince, as she was becoming far more certain she wouldn’t be among them post-change. 

“So, we’re up here for privacy, did you have plans I wasn’t aware of?” She asked bravely, her voice was only shaking a bit on the question.

Aro had that delighted, dark look in his eyes for a moment as his mouth curled upward. “Much as I enjoy the thought, the others won’t be gone much longer, and there are some things that should never be rushed. No, I believe I said I had a gift for you.” He was at the dresser next to Bella in a blink, slowly opening the drawer.

Bella peeked inside, taking a whiff of that wonderful, hardwood smell as she noticed the medium-sized black velvet box sitting inside. Aro took it out, then closed the drawer just as slowly, the wood creaking in protest despite his gentle movements.

She eyed the box apprehensively, glad it wasn’t small enough to be anything too terrifying. 

“Remind me to have a conversation with you regarding the institution of marriage and my very real opinions of it.”

Aro giggled, getting Bella to smile through her nerves.

“I suspect you have a leaning in which you will be forever Bella Swan?”

She met his eye. “Do you even have a last name?”

“No,” he replied. “Those are after my time.”

“So, even if I did think marriage was more than a piece of paper, I’d have been Bella Swan forever anyway.” She pointed out.

“You’re deflecting. I had no idea a simple box could make you so nervous.” He grinned.

“Depends on what’s inside it.” She said, pointing at it once more.

Aro looked down at it with uncertainty, and Bella suddenly realized that she probably sucked all the joy out of whatever he was doing. Then he met her eye, determined, and opened the box toward her.

Laying on the velvet inside was the same, V-shaped crest Aro wore around his neck, only a bit smaller, and on a more delicate chain. 

Bella stared at it, the riot of emotions in her picking up and causing her heart to race.

 _He wants you for his guard_ , Edward had warned, and there was proof before her.

She looked from it to Aro.

“I thought….” She trailed off, finding her heart had decided it would be much more comfortable in her throat than in the pit of her stomach.

He didn’t move, and the silence dragged on between them as he continued to hold the box out to her.

“I understand that you don’t wish to make a declaration of your own just yet, and I’ll never expect one from you. That’s not what this is.” He said, and as she met his eye again, he swiftly added, “Nor is it intended to make you a part of my guard, or even the Volturi Coven.”

“It’s not?” Bella managed to say before she swallowed once more.

“The guard wear silver.” He pointed out. “And the size of the crest denotes rank.”

Bella looked back at the crest. “It’s gold.”

“Yes.”

“Like yours. But smaller.”

“Yes,” Aro said. “The only others who have ever worn one like this were Didyme, Sulpicia, and Athenodora. Didyme’s was burned with her. Sulpicia’s was modified, a jewel of her own choosing replacing the rubies. Athenodora still has hers, as she is still Caius’ wife.” 

Bella stared at it, then looked back at Aro. “If it’s not making me a part of the guard, and it’s generally worn by the Volturi wives, queens, whatever - which I’m not-, then what does it mean?”

“It’s proof you are dear to me.” He said softly. “You, _mia amata,_ will be human for another two months. This will give you protection from anyone foolish enough to go after you.”

“A necklace?” She asked skeptically.

“Anyone not newborn in our world typically knows this symbol. Nomads find one another, talk, warn the younger ones of the law, of who will come for them, what to look for. And what’s more, should someone get near you and not know, there will be the scent of another vampire that would stop them.”

“So, it’s not a magic shield or an Aro summoner. It’s a warning, which does have a chance of failing.”

“Let’s not tempt fate.” He chided with a light tease. He looked at the crest. “I would like you to do me the honor of wearing it, at least until you change.”

She glanced at it again. “It’s not a territorial thing? Like, property claim or something from a million years ago?”

“No,” he assured her. 

Licking her lips and taking a breath, Bella closed the distance between them, turned her back to him, and pulled her hair over her shoulder. 

“Can you help put it on?” She asked shyly, heart pounding as she quietly acknowledged that despite what he said, it _was_ a claim and she was permitting it. His lips touched her just beneath her ear, stealing her breath and having her head fall to the side, her eyes fluttering closed as he pecked just so.

He moved so quietly that only the sound of the crest dropping on its chain had her sure he took it out of the box. Bella sensed his hands coming down around her head just before the gentle weight of the pendant rested on her chest. 

With a kiss on her pulse point, he whispered, “you’ve the most elegant neck.”

She opened her eyes and turned to face him. “Given how many you’ve seen, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He gave her a surprised chuckle, grasping her hand as she had been reaching behind her to touch him. Aro turned it, kissing her palm before he kissed her wrist, and then her lips.

“You know,” She said against his lips as he pulled back. “You’re in what is technically my bedroom.”

“And I do believe I vowed that you would not find me here unless it isn’t under your father’s roof.” He said before kissing her again, surprising her with the feel of his hands skimming her chest, just beneath her collar bone. Before she could do anything as simple as hope, she felt the pendant of her necklace lift up, then the cool metal dip beneath her shirt.

Pulling away with a frown, she touched the crest through her shirt.

“It’s best not to insight the jealous wrath of young Edward this evening.” He explained.

“Right.” She blinked, then heard the door to the patio downstairs slide open. In the next second, she realized Aro was nowhere near her like he’d been before. And then, there was Emmett in the doorway with a knowing grin on his face. 

“Thought I heard you up here.” He said before coming over and wrapping her in a bear hug, mindful of her human body. “Congrats! Your first graduation down.” He set her on her feet, then glanced at Aro. “Maybe, anyway.”

“There are many forms of higher education one can access,” He pointed out. “If you’ll excuse me, I should find Carlisle now that the hunting party has returned.” 

Emmett watched him leave, probably with far more ease than Bella could then turned to her and smirked. 

“You still gonna be my sister?” He asked her with arched brows.

Bella rolled her eyes. “Always. You know family doesn’t always live together.” 

“True,” He agreed. “We all go off from time to time. But you-”

“Have a party to get ready for!” Alice came in, ridiculously excited. “Out, out,” She said shoving at Emmett, and he obeyed, though winked at Bella before he did.

~*~  
  


There had been protests, arguments, and _of course,_ Alice had known about the necklace. Which is why she tried to coax a number of open-collared shirts, or ones with buttons that would reveal the crest hiding against Bella’s chest. And the dresses. How Alice would have thought dresses were something Bella should wear was beyond her knowing.

She refused to cave, and in the end, Alice only got her way to a slight degree in that Bella now had on designer jeans, and dark-blue blouse, but wore a black shirt underneath to better hide the Volturi crest. 

Aro had hidden it for her, and she would have had it hidden anyway, so that’s how she was going to keep it.

Alice had left her to change, and by the time Bella had finished and emerged from the sanctuary that was her room, the party was mostly in full swing.

Angela and Jessica had seen her coming down the stairs and immediately accosted her, bringing her around to the dance floor Alice created in the middle of the living room. 

“Where are the Cullens?” Angela asked over the music, looking around the room as she did.

“I dunno,” Bella called back. “I was up in my room.”

“Oh my god, you have a room here?” Jessica yelled back. “Where!?”

“It’s nothing, just a guest room.” Bella waved it off, glancing around at the crowd and seeking out the vampires among them. She yelped as Mike crashed into her during an ill-fated attempt at doing the robot with Eric, and Bella laughed as they steadied each other. Angela then grabbed her hands and coaxed her to try and dance at least a little bit. 

Bella went along with it for a bit, then noticed the front door opening, revealing Jacob, Quil, and Embry coming inside. Gently shaking Angela off, Bella weaved her way through the crowd, meeting up with the three of them at the staircase.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, “You made it.”

“Yeah,” Jacob said with a huff, pulling her in for a quick hug. “Can’t say I never do anything nice for you.” 

“Uh-huh,” She said as she spotted Quil and Embry eyeing the various tables ladened with snacks like they were incomprehensible. “Guess you guys won’t be staying too long, then?” She guessed, nervously shifting from one foot to another.

Jacob scratched at his head. “If you only knew how bad it stinks here.” He said, making them both laugh. 

Bella glanced at the other two, seeing that while Jacob was at least a little comfortable, Quil and Embry were tense, glancing around at the ever-moving humans.

“Listen, I got you a present.” Jacob got her attention again. 

Bella watched as he took her unbandaged hand in hand while reaching in his pocket with the other. He then strapped something that felt like leather around her wrist, then let go. Bella lifted her arm and looked at the bracelet with the little wooden wolf attached to it. 

“I made it myself,” Jacob said proudly, and Bella beamed.

“It’s really pretty, Jake. Thanks.” She said, giving him another hug. 

“Bella,” he said after a second. “She alright?”

Bella pulled back with a frown, then followed Jacob’s gaze to find Alice standing frozen on the steps, staring off into the distance.

“Shit,” Bella cursed, then moved as quickly as she could to stand in front of her friend.

Just as she was about to wave a hand in front of Alice’s eyes, she blinked rapidly and met Bella’s gaze. 

“What did you see?” Bella asked, and judging by the slight fear and surprise on Alice’s face it wasn’t good.

“What’s going on?” Jacob asked, standing just behind Bella, frowning between the two of them.

“I… need to talk to Jasper,” Alice said, moving around them both on the stairs as quickly as she could in a room full of humans. 

A quick look with Jacob, and he and Bella were following close behind. As they weaved their way to the patio, Bella noticed the crowd there had significantly thinned, and anyone there didn’t linger long. It was as though they had used the more formal area of the living room as a border they shouldn’t pass, and people gave Bella, Jacob, Quil, and Embry a wide berth as they entered forbidden territory.

Alice left the door open, though by the jet of Jasper and Aro’s jaws it wasn’t particularly appreciated.

Quil and Embry closed the door behind them and stood in front of it as though keeping guard.

The assembled vampires could have looked merely like any family avoiding a party for one of their siblings. Carlisle, Esme, and Edward sat on a long patio sofa, facing a pair of chairs holding Aro and Emmett. Rosalie was perched on the railing near her husband, and Jasper had been just a little ways away from her closer to Edward.

It was a little unsettling to feel all their eyes on them as they came out, Alice moving right for Jasper and holding on to him. 

Bella unthinkingly moved toward Aro and stopped. She darted her eyes between him and Jasper, then shifted nervously. “How uncomfortable am I making you two right now?” She asked the two vampires most likely to be suffering from the onslaught of human.

“You reek of dog, _mia cara._ ” Aro said not unkindly. “We will survive.”

“Alice?” Carlisle asked, drawing attention to her as she slid up beside Jasper. 

“The decision’s been made.” She said solemnly.

Edward frowned, then looked at Aro. “The blouse you saw in the stray vampire’s head.” 

“Is it the same?” Aro asked, glancing from Edward to Alice.

“I would guess so.” Alice nodded. “They’ll be on foot, avoiding daylight, but they’re coming here.”

“How long?” Edward asked.

“They’ll be here in four days,” Alice said to him.

“This could turn into a bloodbath,” Carlisle pointed out uneasily, glancing at the mass of teenagers inside the house.

“Was it our dear Victoria behind the newborns?” Aro asked.

Alice shook her head. “I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Maybe one, the local boy who went missing in Seattle last year. I don’t think he started it, though. Whoever did is staying out of the action.”

“They must be playing with the blind spots in your vision,” Carlisle pointed out thoughtfully.

“Which would lead to Victoria after all,” Aro said casually. “I doubt there would be any others with cause to create an army to go against you all, and who would know about Alice’s gift.” 

“You’re probably right,” Carlisle nodded. “How many….?” He looked at Alice.

She looked gravely at her father figure, then to Aro. “Many more than we anticipated.”

“Hold up, what army?” Jacob asked, startling Bella as she hadn’t realized he had come up right behind her, and his voice was quite loud. He put a hand on her shoulder in apology.

Carlisle and Edward looked at each other, and Edward shook his head.

“Tell them, Carlisle,” Aro said, “You’ve my approval.”

“Approval?” Embry mumbled by the doors.

“Respectfully, it’s not-” Edward started to say, but then Jasper spoke over him.

“They’d give us the numbers.” 

Whatever the cryptic conversation was about, Carlisle seemed decided. He turned to Jacob, and said, “Newborns. Our kind.”

“The vampire that sought out Isabella the other day was a part of them,” Aro added for clarification.

“That who they after,” Embry asked, causing everyone to look at him. “Bella?”

“On the surface, yes. But they’re likely after all of us.” Carlisle explained. “The one we’ve been working together to try to stop is possibly the one who sired them all, we can’t be sure. It means an ugly fight, with lives lost.”

Jacob shifted out from behind Bella, turning to look at his friends at the doors. After a slight nod between the three of them, Jacob turned to Carlisle. “We’re in.”

Bella tensed, immediately wanting to protest, but felt Aro’s hand catch hers before she could so much as open her mouth.

“This is what they do, Bella.” He reminded her gently. “Their kind and ours have been enemies for millennia.”

“They’ll get themselves killed!” She protested.

“We took out the other one just fine.” Jacob pointed out.

“There were, like five of you,” Bella countered.

“Yeah, and Paul was the one who got to him first,” Jacob grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly.

“Do you believe Sam will agree to help?” Carlisle asked. 

Jacob blushed, glancing nervously at Bella, then sighed. “You don’t need to talk to Sam. I’m saying we’re in, so the pack is in.”

“Sorry… what?” Bella asked.

“Jacob’s gonna be chief!” Embry piped up, ignoring the glare from Jacob and the sharp elbow from Quil.

“You’re… really?” Bella asked, pleased despite herself.

“When I’m eighteen.” Jacob clarified. “It’s a birthright, apparently. Sam was the first to phase, so he was alpha, but I’m growing into my position. I could take it now, but I wanted to wait. He agreed to a sort of co-alpha, with my leading most of the decisions.” He shrugged, “it’s only been in the last couple weeks.”

“How many are currently in your pack?” Aro asked, rising from his chair and letting go of Bella’s hand.

“About a dozen,” He replied. 

“Are you thinking of calling in the guard?” Carlisle asked Aro.

“No,” he said immediately, turning to the blonde vampire. “I said before Caius would never allow the truce. He would call for all your heads, and then ensure the pack is hunted to extinction.”

“All but a few gifted exceptions?” Rosalie asked.

“I’m afraid nothing would save any of you should he ever learn of this,” Aro replied with gravity. 

“So it’ll be just us.” Carlisle nodded. 

“Might be fun,” Emmett smirked.

“It will be dangerous,” Jasper noted. “The wolves will give us an edge, the newborns won’t know they exist.”

“Or merely be surprised they do,” Aro noted. “From my understanding of the rogue one’s mind, no one has taught these newborns the difference between the legends they’ve heard and reality.”

“It might also mean they weren’t taught how to fight.” Jasper pushed off the balcony. “They’d be driven by instinct.”

“You seem to know a lot about them.” Jacob frowned.

“I had an unusual beginning.” He replied, not necessarily rude, but without an ounce of anything friendly.

“Jasper has knowledge on how to fight newborns that we would lack,” Carlisle explained to Jacob. “We’ll all need training, and you’re welcome to join us.” 

Jacob smirked, “Name the time and place.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn't realized the fic was rated G still when it should have been a T. Oops. I'm quite excited to share the next chapter with you as there is a scene I quite adore, and hope you all like it as much as I did.
> 
> Until next time!


	17. Chapter 17

The house was once more silent in the early hours of the morning, the party had ended just before midnight, and the clean up finished within minutes of the last guest leaving. 

Bella was up in her room asleep, Alice having called Charlie to ask permission on Bella’s behalf to spend the next few nights at the Cullen house. Aro could hear her slow, easy breathing, the quiet thump of her heart, and was intensely grateful he’d spent the day before gorging himself just on the other side of the Canadian border. The house still smelled faintly of humans, though thankfully with the undertone of dog, food, and the foul musk teenagers tend to get when they're a bit too sweaty.

The following morning would begin the first steps in preparing for the army of newborns approaching the area. And with nothing much to do while the hours ticked by and all the mortals involved rested, Aro amused himself by playing a board game with Jasper and Emmett. 

“You have experience with newborns.” Aro started a conversation after an hour or so in the game.

“I do.” Jasper nodded once.

“The story behind your scars, then, I would wager,” Aro asked, meeting the Southern man’s eye. “The Mexican wars?”

“Yes, sir,” Jasper replied, taking his turn.

Emmett watched them uneasily.

“I’m surprised I hadn’t encountered you beforehand, then,” Aro said casually. “Considering the Volturi were forced to intervene.”

“It would have been a later war,” Jasper replied. “Maria, my mistress, had heard tell of you bunch coming in and cleaning house when things were too conspicuous. Think that’s why she kept her army small but fresh. It was my job to train the newborns, and then dispose of them.” He said, a shadow crossing his face.

“To feel what the one you are about to execute feels,” Aro said in understanding. “I don’t know the exact feeling, but I empathize.”

“You do,” Jasper agrees. “’Magine it’s like hearing all the thoughts before you rip their heads off.”

“Indeed,” Aro said as Emmett cautiously leaned over the table to take his turn. “But you escaped the life.”

“I did. A friend of mine who found his mate and escaped came back for me.” Jasper told him, a slight smile playing on his lips. “And then sometime later I met Alice.”

Emmett huffed, taking some of the ridiculously colored pieces of paper and handing them to Jasper who took them with a smug sort of grin.

“I can’t imagine you miss those days,” Aro said as he picked up the dice and tossed them gently down on the wooden board before moving his piece.

“No, sir,” Jasper said as he watched Aro’s move. There was an exchange of colored paper for a card, and then Jasper picked up the dice.

He didn’t toss them.

Instead, he leaned over the table and very quietly asked, “how do you do it?”

“Do what?” Aro asked in turn.

“You hear all the thoughts anyone’s ever had with a touch. How do you feed? I couldn’t… I might have gone insane if Alice didn’t find me, showed me this way of life.” He glanced around, though it didn’t seem anyone in the house was listening in on their very quiet conversation. “I _know_ how you feel about Bella. How do you go out and just…?”

Aro leaned in as well, Emmett following in a likely attempt not to feel excluded.

“I hear every thought, except by the time they can think of what is happening to them, they’re already losing their life. Or I simply snap their neck first. And when it comes to Bella… I already think of her more as one of us than one of them. I won’t lie and say her scent doesn’t make my throat dry from time to time, but I’ll not dare put my teeth against her skin until she’s ready to become what she is meant to.” Aro narrowed his eyes at Jasper. “I imagine you don’t miss the standard way of life if only that animals don’t radiate the same emotions.”

“That’s true.” Jasper acknowledged, and the three men leaned away from each other.

Upstairs, a heart rate began to pick up speed. Aro stilled, straining, not sure what to make of the pounding rhythm. There was a muffled moan next, then another one that might have been distressed or something else entirely.

Emmett grinned. “Someone’s having a good dream.”

Another muffled moan, and then a scream.

“Guess not,” Emmett said as he, Aro, and Jasper were upstairs immediately.

They were at Bella’s door, seeing Edward trying to rouse or settle Bella as she started thrashing about, screaming and crying.

“Move him,” Aro commanded Emmett, pointing to Edward before going to Bella’s side.

“She’s having a nightmare.” Edward protested. “I’ve seen them before.”

Aro rounded on him, but kept his distance, not trusting himself not to wrap a hand around Edward’s neck. Emmett had been able to keep Edward back with one arm just stretched in front of him.

“I’m aware you’ve seen them, did you ever stop to think of why?” Aro asked him, sensing Jasper trying to gently bring Bella out of sleep.

“No, Aro, don’t!” Bella started to cry, her fist pounding. “no, no!” She bolted up, panting, frantically trying to push her hair out of her face.

Carefully, hoping Jasper could keep her calm if needed, Aro reached out and assisted her in clearing her face. 

Considering her violent cries in sleep, he was surprised that when their eyes met she was relieved.

“You’re alright,” She sighed, shifting forward and looping her arms around his neck.

Aro frowned, glancing at Jasper, and then to Esme and Alice who were standing in the doorway for a clue as to what was going on.

“Of course, _mia cara_.” He said, gently returning the embrace for a moment then pulling back. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Bella sighed again, swallowed, and looked around the room.

“I had a dream that you were all fighting the newborns. And you were losing.” She explained, glancing despondently around the room. “I was made to watch you all die.”

“That won’t happen, sweetheart,” Esme assured, coming to Bella’s side and smoothing her hair in a matronly way. “We can’t promise nothing bad will happen,” She said with a darting glance to Alice. “But we’ll get through this, and you won’t have to watch anyone suffer.”

Bella nodded, then frowned. “I have to help,” She looked to Aro. “I need to be of some use to you, all of you.”

“Just your being there will be enough,” Jasper assured.

“You’re not serious about that, are you?” Edward asked.

“We should discuss this another time,” Aro interjected. “For now, we should leave her to sleep.”

“Yeah, and I’m thinking you’re, like, a roll away from owing me a lot of money,” Emmett added with a grin.

Bella frowned at Aro sleepily. “Wait, are you playing monop-”

“Rest, now, Isabella. We’ll ensure no one else comes in.” He said, stroking her hair back once before he and Esme left the bed.

Edward started to protest, but Esme only had to say his name in that special way mothers always do to get their children to behave, and they left the room, closing the door behind them. 

Out in the hall, Aro grabbed Edward’s sleeve-covered arm, bringing him (and everyone else) to a halt.

Aro made sure he was composed as he said, “Did it never occur to you that your lurking over her in her sleep is what causes her to scream and thrash about? Did it ever once cross your mind that you are, in fact, a predator? She’s already in a house full of vampires, did you think watching over her would help?”

“She trusts us,” Edward argued, frowning.

“Trust matters not when she’s asleep.” He reminded Edward. “Much as she cares for everyone here, all her instincts would sense is danger.”

Guilt flashed in Edward’s eye for one, quick moment, and then he was the stoned face teenager once more. He merely nodded, then turned and left. A few moments later, the sound of the piano - of Bella’s lullaby - carried upstairs.

“I hadn’t thought of that myself,” Esme confessed sheepishly. “When I made up the room for her, I hadn’t even thought that maybe it wouldn’t be good for her.”

“She’ll be fine,” Alice assured. “As long as we don’t hover.” She guided her mother back to wherever they were before, leaving only Aro, Jasper, and Emmett in the hallway.

“Back to it then?” Emmett asked eagerly, rubbing his palms together in gleeful anticipation.

~AB~

Bella sat on the roof of the truck Jasper drove to the site and watched as the Cullens and Aro chatted about the pending training for the newborn army. And if she stared a bit more at the red-eyed vampire than the others, it was only because she couldn’t really comprehend what she was seeing.

He still had his pendant, but if she had thought he looked casual the night before she was painfully mistaking. He was wearing a _henley_ , probably borrowed from Jasper, and she was fairly certain he was wearing pants that were almost but not quite denim. Perhaps a khaki in the darkest color possible, something that didn’t look terribly out of place with his loafers, but not the finely tailored clothing she was used to. And his hair was partly pulled back again, more utilitarian than elegant. He looked like he fit in among the rest of them, yet was so out of place that even if he had had golden eyes there was no mistaking he wasn’t one of theirs.

Add to that the gloves he wore, thin and flexible, almost a second skin. It wasn’t terribly surprising to see him wear them, given how likely the possibility of him touching someone was. Bella doubted it would be a good thing, flooded with people’s visions in the heat of battle.

Just the fleeting thought of what they were training for, what was to come, sent Bella back to the nightmare she had had the night before. The wolves were overrun by the newborns first, all faceless, red-eyed beings that surged toward them in overwhelming numbers. Then the Cullens charged, and while they had a bit of reprieve, they too were soon overrun. 

Then Victoria came from seemingly nowhere, moving toward Bella, ready to strike when Aro cut in. He had thought he’d had her, thought Victoria was done, and then Bella was forced to watch as the tables were turned, and Aro….

She had been woken up just as he, Edward, Alice, all of them were set ablaze, and Victoria posed to drain her.

Shuddering at the thought, Bella turned away from her family, looking down at her hands instead. This, of course, led to her examining the scar on her arm left by James.

There was still a part of her that blamed herself for this whole mess. Just being around the Cullens had caused the nomad to take an unhealthy interest, and it all snowballed from there. 

Tracing a finger along the cool ridges, she wondered what life would have been like if Edward hadn’t sucked out the venom. She’d have been changed by now, been a vampire for almost a year, coming out of the newborn stage. Charlie would have been devastated, as would Renee, as there would have been no quiet fade from their life. She’d have been a Cullen, guaranteed, eyes changing to gold as she followed their vegetarian lifestyle. 

Would she have been with Edward? At the time, she couldn’t imagine a life without him, wanted to be with him forever more than anything. But Edward had been so vehemently against her becoming one of them that it had been his decision whether or not she went through the change and he chose no. So, if things had taken their somewhat natural course, and the venom had spread and taken over, there was a very real possibility that he would become that much more self-loathing. Blame him for the supposed monster she’d have become. Probably reject her. Or her him, if she were to wake up on the other side with the clear-headed epiphany she’d come to too late. 

Would he still have gone to Volterra to ask for death? Would she still have followed Alice, this time the pair of them going to try and talk him out of it? Or would she be forced to stay behind while someone else talked him off the metaphorical ledge?

“You’re quite deep in thought, _mia cara_ ,” Aro’s voice startled her slightly, bringing her back to reality and glancing about the field. 

Jasper and Emmett were now sparing, not so much training as just warming up. The others were watching, except Edward who was more or less watching her and Aro.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

“Yeah,” She said, glancing down at her hand then shaking her head to clear her mind. “Just got lost in a thought is all.”

His fingers gently skimmed the scar that had been the catalyst for her pondering.

“I’ve never asked if it bothers you, this scar. I’ve wondered, from time to time, if it causes you pain.”

“Just a bit colder than the rest of me,” She said in reply, her hand coming to rest lightly over Aro’s, finding the silk-like texture of his gloves strange beneath her fingertips. “Will it go away? When I’m changed?”

“I can’t see why it wouldn’t,” He replied, turning his hand and taking hold of Bella’s. With a gentle tug, he brought her off the truck hood and to her feet, having her stand at his side. “But I’ve never personally encountered the few vampires who had been kept as pets while human to know. And, if I had, it’s possible that the bites received while human was beneath clothing.” Still holding her hand, he carefully pushed back her sleeve, revealing her bracelet from Jacob. “It’s quite lovely craftsmanship.” He admired it, gently touching the delicately carved wood. “He has a gift.”

“I’m surprised you don’t mind,” Bella said, glancing from the bracelet to Aro.

He met her gaze, then touched the crest through her shirt, pressing it gently against her breast bone. He put his mouth right to her ear and spoke so low she could barely hear him. “You accepted a gift from me, why would you not do the same for someone else you care for?” He pulled back some, looking her in the eye. A touch louder, he continued. “And, as I’ve said, your friendship with him will be hard if not impossible to maintain after the change. A reminder of the love you felt for one another could be something meaningful to carry over with you. Most of us don’t get to have such a luxury.”

Bella smiled up at him until a loud crash broke the silence of the area. Turning, she spotted Emmett getting back to his feet some distance away before charging back at Jasper in a blur.

“Hey guys,” Jacob’s voice called out, and he stepped out of the tree-ling in his typical frayed pants and little else. The sparring paused, and the Cullens assembled to face him. “So, Sam thinks it’s best if the pack is in wolf form while watching. I’ll end up phasing in with the rest, but I wanted to give you all a heads up.” He found Bella and grinned before dashing into the woods again.

Aro placed his arm around her waist as if trying to keep her close, keep her safe, but not so much that she couldn’t leave his side if that’s what she wanted. 

The wolves slowly started to emerge from the forest, the one Bella could pick out as Jacob in the center with the equally large black one she would guess was Sam. Three of the wolves eyed Aro with what Bella would guess was suspicion, and seeing their eyes dart between him and her made her wonder what they were suspicious of. It didn’t last long, they looked to Jacob, and then had eyes forward on the Cullens.

She snorted at the dismay and disgust on Edward’s face, wondering just what the wolves were probably thinking to put that look there as he stood on the other side of Carlisle from Jasper.

“Thank you for coming,” Carlisle addressed all of them. “Jasper has experience in fighting newborns, so I’ll be passing the leader role on to him today. He’ll teach us how to defeat them, and hopefully give you all a better understanding of what you’re up against.”

Edward frowned. “They want to know how the newborns differ from us.” Edward passed on the question.

“They’re a great deal stronger than us because their own human blood lingers in their tissues. Our kind is never more physically powerful than in our first several months of this life.” Carlisle explained.

Bella watched as Carlisle and Edward stepped back, giving all the attention to Jasper. 

It was interesting to see his posture straighten. Head-up and shoulders back, hands clasped behind him, looking over the wolves as well as the Cullens with a keen eye. 

He continued his speech, explaining a quick set of dos and don’ts to the wolves and vampires, before asking Emmett to help him demonstrate. 

She could see nothing but a multi-toned blur, unable to even make out streak was Jasper and which one Emmett.

“Emmett has lunged,” Aro explained, “and Jasper will be behind him.”

Sure enough, a second later the action stopped. Jasper, having wrapped his brother’s torso, his teeth an inch from Emmett’s throat. The wolves gave a rumble, and judging by the smirk Edward wore, she would wager it was something positive. 

Jasper called up Alice.

“He’s about to charge her,” Aro observed quietly.

“But she’ll know what he’s about to do.” Bella guessed by the way Alice stood still.

“She’s about to-” Aro stopped when Jasper suddenly stopped. Alice had gone from standing still to on Jasper’s back so quickly Bella didn’t even see the blur. “I imagine her gift could make her both fierce and vulnerable. She’d know what was coming for her, but any moment anyone she had a focus on could change their mind, and cause her to stop.”

“So we should ask her to stop watching so many decisions,” Bella said worriedly, taking hold of Aro’s sleeve and twisting it nervously.

“If it’s something she can do, yes.” He agreed. 

It was startling to see how Esme could look as she went up against Jasper. The violent, vicious look in her eye was so different from her normally matronly gaze that Bella found herself inching closer to Aro as he told her what he was seeing when the fight started. When Esme was done, he glanced down at Bella with genuine concern.

“If seeing Esme like that has bothered you, you’ll not like watching when I take a turn.”

“I won’t see you for long at least,” She said as Rosalie had a turn. 

Once each of the Cullens had a turn, Aro stepped away.

Jasper looked at the gloves with a smirk but said nothing.

“When you’re ready, major,” Aro said with a sly grin, getting Jasper to arch his brow.

 _Major?_ _Like, army major_? One day, Bella would have to ask what the story was behind that. For now, she wrapped one arm around herself, the other bent to allow her to press her mouth to her fist.

Jasper said something, what Bella couldn’t be sure, but then watched Aro shift. She’d seen it before, shadows of it anyway. The sharp, dark eyes of a predator. The eerily graceful stance that preluded a quick move. It was terrifying, the way his smile might have been perceived as crazed, how his eyes practically glowed, the way his teeth glistened. And then he was a blur with Jasper, the sounds of stone hitting stone echoing painfully in her ears. She cringed, and squinted, trying to find a glimpse of what was happening.

“Jasper and Aro are essentially at a draw,” Edward said, and Bella had been so focused on trying to make out the mess of it all, she hadn’t heard him coming. She glanced at Edward, but he was watching the fight. “Every time one nearly gets the upper hand, the other makes a comeback. Both are quite fierce, it’s impressive to behold.” Edward paused. “I can imagine this is what Jasper looked like in the southern wars, where he learned the most about newborns.”

“Is that why Aro called him major?” Bella asked, glancing back at the blur, noting the wolves were watching intently, some even pacing.

“No,” Edward replied, eyes on the fight. “Jasper was part of the confederate army before he was turned. It’s not something he likes to talk about, same with the southern wars.”

Bella nodded, making a note not to ask. 

“Caius is known to be the more bloodthirsty of the Volturi, but Aro looks like he might relish the fight. He’s almost smiling. And despite the gloves, it’s like he knows what Jasper will do next.”

Quite suddenly, the blur stopped with both men having a hand around the other’s neck, both with a slight growl that stopped almost as soon as Bella noticed it.

“You’re definitely dealt with newborns,” Jasper said with a grin before the two mutually withdrew their hands. 

“I’ve had my fair share of encounters, yes,” Aro said as he straightened his shirt, glancing toward her and Edward. Their eyes met, and then Edward was in front of him, standing tall and blocking Bella from seeing much of Aro.

“I’ve gone up against Jasper, I’d like to see how I fare against you.” He said almost politely.

“Very well,” Aro said, and the two stepped apart a moment.

Jasper looked to Carlisle, and Carlisle nodded once. At that, Jasper said, “A hand or arm around the neck wins, as does teeth near it.”

That look came back over Aro again, and then the pair were off. 

No one narrated this time, so all Bella could see was the blue, black, and white blur with no idea what was going on. And more than a little worrisome, it seemed to get closer to her causing her heart to pound with a torrent of emotions. She nearly backed up onto the hood of the truck again before there was a cracking sound that had the family tense and the wolves’ ears perk up, and then it all stopped.

On his knees facing her, Aro gritted his teeth, a fine spider web of cracks on his cheek slowly sealing. 

Edward had one hand on Aro’s neck, one arm wrapped around Aro’s torso, and his foot on Aro’s legs. 

Bella was reminded quite quickly of the day they were in Volterra, and Edward was being tortured by Jane. Edward’s eyes were dark, intense, unforgiving, and wild. It caused her flashbacks to that biology class all that time ago when she sat down next to him. But it wasn’t from thirst, his eyes had been a brilliant shade of gold before the fight. 

It was her nightmare with Edward playing the part of Victoria.

“Stop,” She gave a broken cry, meeting Edward’s eye. “Stop,” She asked again when he seemed to not hear her.

“Edward,” Carlisle said, calm but commanding, and Edward seemed to snap out of it. 

He let go of Aro, stepping away, moving back to her side as he had been before.

“Sorry,” Edward said in the general direction of Aro. “I lost myself a little.”

“It’s fine,” Aro said, eyes closed as the last of the cracks on his face closed. “It was a valuable lesson for me.”

Then he was up, at Bella’s side as well, facing forward and watching as Rosalie and Esme went into the next set.

As subtle as possible, Bella slipped her bandaged hand into Aro’s statue still one, grasping it even as he didn’t move. Then she reached across herself with her other hand, having it join the first. 

He pulled out of her grasp, and Bella flinched and the pang of disappointment. Then Aro’s arm was around her waist as it had been before, and Bella turned to wrap her arms around him in turn. She took a deep breath, barely getting that evergreen smell through the borrowed fabric, but picked it up enough to find a bit of comfort. It still took a few minutes for her heart to settle.

~AB~

The training took most of the day, breaking only so the mortals could take care of their mortal needs. When the evening began to set in, Alice had taken Bella into town for dinner and Aro retreated to the woods.

He would love to say it wasn’t to lick his proverbial wounds, but lying to himself was rather distasteful. 

He had had the upper hand on the young Cullen, and it had been almost an easy win. Then he spotted Isabella, saw the way she worried, and it felt like a victory in itself.

She might have been physically affectionate with him still, the lingering touches and stolen kisses. She may have drifted closer to him when they were near one another, she may have even accepted his gift, but Aro could tell she was still reeling from the idea that they were simply meant to be. That a confession bigger than “I care about you” would take a long time, and may not even happen until after her change. May not for centuries yet. 

Yet she _worried_. She did so in a way she hadn’t with the others and seeing it had been such a thrill that for just a moment a part of his mind had _imagined_. And then Edward became feral. 

It had become less of trying to keep the young man’s arm or hand from around his neck, and more preventing him from clawing or punching Aro’s face off. Keeping Edward back from Bella in case this wildness made the scent of her blood, already so incredibly tantalizing to him, irresistible.

It was in one of those attempts to keep Edward away that Edward’s fist made repeated contact with Aro’s cheek, disorienting him enough to stumble and be overpowered. Then he was on his knees and vulnerable before his mate, forced to see the utter terror in her eyes. He could still remember the way Edward’s hand tightened ever so slightly around his neck before Bella and Carlisle called Edward off. 

It was ridiculous of him to have thought Bella would want little to do with him afterward. Yet when she had put her hand in his, encircled it, brought herself closer, Aro had been genuinely surprised. Sulpicia, while she had loved him, would have distanced herself from him in the immediate aftermath. Her thoughts had been laced with embarrassment should a simple spar not go his way and someone would get the upper hand. Others were the same when he deigned to amuse himself with someone unmated like himself for a decade or two. Bella may have had the thoughts of seeing him as weak, as lesser, but if she had it didn’t dampen her affection, nor would he ever have to know about it.

It was sometime after his initial escape that Aro heard Edward’s approach. He tensed, wary of the young man and refusing to be caught unaware this time.

When Edward stopped some feet away from him, he looked genuinely repentant. 

“I wanted to apologize properly for my behavior earlier,” Edward said, barely meeting Aro’s eye.

“Really? And which of your adoptive parents persuaded you to do so?” Aro asked.

“Neither,” Edward confused. “Though I heard enough of my family’s thoughts on the matter to know you were owed more than the mere toss away one I gave before. And they were right. Losing myself in the moment could have had irreparable consequences. Not just for myself, but for my family. And it’s possible I would have fallen further from Bella’s favor than I already have.”

Aro sized the boy up, and while he didn’t let his guard down completely, he relaxed a bit. “I’m not here precisely as a leader of the Volturi,” he began. “But you are right in assuming that my death at your hands, or in your family’s care would have brought about the worst thing imaginable. And I doubt Isabella would have lived as well.”

Edward nodded solemnly, looking more to his feet than at anything else.

“My forgiveness will only be granted on one condition: an explanation.”

Edward glanced up then. “I lost myself.”

“Yes, but how. A stray thought? Mine or someone else’s?”

“Yours,” Edward replied as if it pained him. “It felt more like a memory than a musing. A kiss.”

“I’ve exchanged a few of those with her, so it’s not an unlikely possibility that it was a memory.” Aro conceded, his guard rising when he heard the low growl from Edward. “Would you have rather I lied about it?” He asked, tightening his jaw.

“No,” Edward snapped back. “I don’t suppose I would. It’s just… she’s _mine_. She’s my Bella, my everything. And she’s not even letting me try!”

“She’s not _your_ Bella, she is her own. And she’s not letting you try, because you’ve given her no reason to.” Aro retorted, and in a moment of rare sympathy for the young man, offered an olive branch. “She and you are from different times. You from a time when men were assertive, dominant, and a woman demure, pleased to be chased and flattered by the attention. Bella is of this era, where a woman has more choice, though admittedly not quite enough. I imagine if my former wife had been born of an era like this, it would have taken a lot more than the promise of power and security to win her hand.” Then thoughtfully added, “But then, if she were of an era like this, she wouldn’t have bothered with a man at all.”

“And would that have made you kill her faster?” Edward asked with a sharp gaze.

Aro scowled back. “Sulpicia is still alive.”Edward didn’t look like he believed that, but Aro didn’t want to bother correcting him. “You’re smothering Isabella.” Aro got to the point, wanting the conversation to end.

“And you aren’t?” Edward countered.

“I don’t stand over her bed and watch her sleep. I don’t follow her around, stalking her every move whenever possible. You won’t even let her near Jacob without giving an extensive lecture-”

“The wolves are volatile, unpredictable, and with no control over themselves.”

“Sounds very typical of a newborn vampire.” Aro agreed. “Except the majority of the shifters have control over themselves, Jacob more than most. You have heard their thoughts, I have heard Jacob’s _every_ thought. One wolf lost control to the point of harming his love, but this is also a man who had a temper anyway.”

Edward shook his head, and Aro wrote the conversation as a dud, seeing the boy retained far too much of the stubbornness of youth to give Aro’s reasons much thought.

After a moment, Edward said, “Apology aside, I came out here for another reason: for your help. I need you to help me make them see reason.”

“In what regard?” Aro asked. 

“They want Bella to go through the area we plan to lure the newborns too, leave her scent around, and stay near enough to the fight that she could maybe entice them into a frenzy. A fresh whiff carrying on the wind to make them mad with thirst.”

“I’m not sure how this could be a bad thing?” Aro asked. “An old, but still recent trail of her scent would certainly bring them where we want them. There would be enough of us there to keep Bella safe.”

“And if it is Victoria?” Edward asked. “If she did use all this as a distraction?”

Aro pursed his lips. “Might I ask, what did you propose be done with Bella during all this? She can’t be in town, that will divert her scent away from where we want them. She can’t go to the reservation, there not only wouldn’t be any wolves to protect her but then by the treaty in place none of us can go in and protect her.” 

“I would stay with her,” Edward said as though it were obvious. 

“And did you ask if that’s what she wanted?” Aro countered. “No, of course, you didn’t. You don’t ask Bella what she would like, you simply tell her what she wants and expect her to follow through.”

“She’ll say she wants to help.”

“So let her.” Aro replied. “She’ll be a vampire in just a little over two months. Were you planning on convincing her to stay at home all the time? I imagine you’d bring a mountain lion home for dinner - no, apologies. It was you would come home expecting it to be laid out for you, yes?”

“She’s not a vampire now.” Edward sneered. “And I would never-”

“Never say never, Edward. It’s a bit of a curse when it comes to you.” Aro warned.

Edward clenched his jaw and nodded once. 

When he seemed calm once more, Aro spoke again.

“If we arrange for her to be far enough away from the fight to remain relatively safe, but near enough for her scent to be noted, would that suffice?” 

“Only if I stay with her,” Edward said.

“Then she’ll have two vampires watching over her, and should Victoria be the one behind this, she’ll likely note your not being there among the fray. She’ll follow the scent and find herself outnumbered.”

Edward looked about ready to argue, then stopped. Made another noise, then stopped again. A car carrying a heartbeat drew closer, Alice and Bella returning, and Edward turned his head in the direction.

“I know you care about her,” He said softly. “I don’t think you love her, not really. I’ll never believe that. But you do care for her, so your help will be appreciated.”

Car doors punctuated his reply, and Aro listened as footsteps got closer.

It was a few minutes before Bella and Alice appeared, the former cursing quietly, trying not to laugh along with the latter.

“Hey,” Bella said as they came to the clearing. “Thought you guys would have had enough of the woods, what with the training today and tomorrow.” 

Edward smiled softly at Bella, “So why are you out here then?” He said in a teasing tone. 

“Not going to be there tomorrow,” Bella said firmly. “I’ll go back to my house for a bit, be back afterward.”

“I’ll hunt while Bella’s doing her part in preparing for the battle, stay with her tomorrow night here while you all hunt,” Alice said with a grin.

Edward met her eye, and the lightest smile graced his lips as he nodded to his sister. “I suppose it's for the best it goes that way.” He agreed.

“Can,” Bella said, earning Edward’s attention once more. “Can you guys give us a moment?” She asked, gesturing between herself and Aro.

Before Edward could reply, Alice took her brother’s arm and said, “of course.” With a tug on Edward’s arm, they were gone.

“I’m sorry,” Bella said as Aro turned to her. “I just… after today I just can’t… the battle is going to be bad enough, but today….”

“You don’t need to explain, _mia cara._ ” He assured. 

“Yeah, but I feel like I do,” Bella said in a frustrated sort of tone. “Alice… she told me what the family decided. And I agree, I should be there. I want to help in any way I can. But Edward with his hand on your neck? It was straight from my nightmare, except it wasn’t him I had seen in my head.”

“Bella,” Aro said softly. 

“I just,” She sighed, reaching for him, fisting his jacket and pulling herself toward him, resting her head on his chest. After a few seconds, she said, “I need a day away from it so I can be braver. A moment to separate myself from it all. And I know it’s selfish-”

“No.” He said firmly, cupping her head and tilting her up to see her. “It is not selfish in the least. You’re not asking to do nothing while others take risks for you, you are merely asking to be excused from a task that you can have no participation in. If anything, it was selfish of all of us to want you near.”

“It’s because you all need to watch over me. Which, well, it makes me wonder… if I don’t show up tomorrow, will you all be worried, or?”

“It will be during the day,” Aro reminded her. “And while that does pose a risk, if the forecast continues as expected, it will be far too sunny for any of our kind to risk exposure. Simply make sure you are back here at the Cullens before sundown.”

She nodded in his hands, then slid her hands from his chest to around his neck, pulling herself up to kiss him.

“There’s another reason why I hate not going tomorrow.” She said after she pulled back. “Less time with you. You’re going to go back soon, right?”

Aro nodded, “I called this Gianna this morning to arrange for the jet to be brought here in four days.” 

Bella nodded as well, then closed her eyes. “I hate knowing now that my missing you might not be _me_ missing you.”

“You may not miss me at all,” Aro said, smiling slightly as she opened her eyes and frowned. “Bella, I love you, and I will miss you. But I will not miss you merely because I love you, I will because I like you. Your spirit, your curiosity, your fearless heart.”

“Fearless? I think I just said I couldn’t watch the training tomorrow because of a nightmare.”

“That is human, _mia cara_. You also are willing to be on the fringes of the fight despite the risk. You went into the den of vampires without hesitation when Jane was commanded to bring you all down to the throne room in Volterra. And you return here, time and again, to a place that arguably should make you nervous given the events of your last birthday.”

Bella shook her head. “Jasper hadn’t meant it, I know that.” 

“Even still.” Aro said, unable to resist dipping his head to steal a kiss from her. “It is no wonder that you have so many hearts, beating and not, that wish to be kept in your possession.”

She grinned, “You’re just trying to make me feel better about all this.”

“Is it working?” He grinned back.

Bella kissed him again. “Not telling.” She said before leaning in again. 

Without hesitating, he picked her up by the back of her thighs and turned, putting her back against the tree and allowing himself to lose just a bit of control. It didn’t sound like Bella was complaining, except for the surprised but muffled “oof” from hitting the tree. At her own human speed, she’d wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to free one hand, pull them back a small bit, and placed his hand at the back of her head in an attempt to cushion, but the distinct sound of her teeth clanking together inside her head upon contact said it had the opposite effect. But he felt her smile against his lips, so instead of pulling back right away, Aro continued to kiss her senseless until her need for air became apparent.

She rested her head against his shoulder, then placed a kiss gently against his neck.

The sensation was unexpected, and the shiver of pleasure had venom flooding his system in ways that he’d normally have complete control over. 

Slowly, Aro stepped back, forcing Bella’s legs to drop from around his waist and to the forest floor. He then moved so he could literally put her at arm's length.

“We had a conversation not terribly long ago about whether I feared losing control with you.” He started to explain as apprehension started to wash over Bella’s features. He swallowed the excess venom in his mouth. “I fear I underestimated the effect you could have on me when I’m unprepared.”

“Umm… oops?” Bella said uncertainty. “Guess that means-”

“That the next time we find ourselves in such an amorous situation, I’ll be expecting simple things like a kiss on the neck.”

Bella blushed, then started to giggle. “Oh,” She said pointedly. “So, I mean… it’s not like I know much about vampire anatomy, but you’re saying-”

“Yes, yes.” He said cutting her off. “Now, please, I would appreciate it if we-”

“I should be heading back now anyway. To the house. Alice… she was very visiony tonight. One of those had her looking at me like she _knew_ something so this, here, tonight, probably wasn’t a good idea.”

“On the contrary,” Aro said as he stepped closer, back in control of his body and able to take her hand without wanting to pull her in and continue what had started before. “I rather think this evening would have been an excellent idea if you’d been a vampire. For now, it was merely an excellent lesson on what to expect in the future.”

Bella looked at him then with eyes filled with hope, and despite his curiosity, they had already moved just enough toward the house that they were in hearing range of the vampires.

Best to leave it lie for the night, and hope they could have the conversation regarding her hopes sometime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, thanks for all the support the fic has gotten.  
> I wish I could say I'll maintain the every two-day post that's been happening lately, but I took a break from writing over the weekend which means I'll be playing catch up. Should still see something at least once a week though.  
> Until the next update.
> 
> PS- Can you guess what my favorite scene to envision was?


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: the beginning of this chapter is a touch mature. Nothing is described, but it takes place in a bedroom...

Bella returned from Port Angeles and a day out with Angela. The sun had been blissfully, wonderfully bright with gorgeous summer heat coming with it. It meant a day out without a chaperon, hopefully, one of many more to come once the newborns and Victoria were taken care of. 

She had stopped at Charlie’s to get a small bag of things after bringing Angela home. He hadn’t commented on the unfamiliar black car Bella had been driving, but since it was known that the Cullens had a vast collection, he likely chalked it up to one of theirs. With the promise that he was spending his next few days off fishing, Bella returned to the Cullen house, pulling into the garage just as the sunset.

She went back inside, bag in hand, and looked around the empty living room.

“Hello?”

Edward appeared on the patio outside, startling her for a moment just as Alice came running down the stairs. The two siblings were in front of Bella in an instant, and there seemed to be a stare down about to happen in which they were quietly arguing.

“What’s up?”

“Alice,” Edward started out loud.

“Edward,” She said firmly.

“Guys?” Bella asked, looking between them.

“I told the family it would be smart to hunt tonight, seeing as how tomorrow night there’s a chance there won’t be any animals about for dinner.”

“I don’t need-” Edward started to protest.

“It may be your only chance to power up before the fight.” Alice reminded. 

“Wait, why won’t there be any animals around?” Bella asked, shaking her head, trying to make heads or tails of the conversation.

“There’s going to be a storm tomorrow night,” Alice explained. “We’ll start to notice the silence around midday tomorrow.”

Edward sighed, “I’ll be fine, you go.” 

“Edward.” Alice sighed heavily, “Can you please just go? Bella is here, she’s fine-”

“And she doesn’t need you hovering,

” Bella stated plainly.

Edward looked chagrined but nodded. He turned to the patio doors again, then lingered. 

“Go!” Alice waved him off. 

Edward nodded, then left.

Alice sighed with relief. “Right. So, tell me about your day? I didn’t see if you decided on that dress in the end. The black one? It would look amazing on you, so if you didn’t I’ll go back and get it when this is all done. Oh! Or we could go together.”

Bella laughed, glad the momentary tension from Edward’s persistent presence didn’t affect the mood of the evening too much.

“Right, maybe. But, I’ve got to ask: if there’s a storm coming, won’t that sorta ruin all the work I’ll do prepping the area?”

“I see you do a magnificent job,” Alice smiled slyly as she led Bella to the stairs, moving with her at a human pace up them. “The area we chose _will_ get some of the snow-”

“Snow?!”

“-but the wind will be dampened a bit by the cliffs.” Alice finished.

“Snow?” Bella repeated. “It’s June!” 

Alice shrugged. “Mountain region. Don’t worry, Edward wasn’t going to do more than pitch a tent in a spot that had some shelter, but we were able to get a little camper up the mountain. You can thank Emmett tomorrow, but I don’t know if it’s needed. He had a lot of fun going off-road with it. I don’t think you’ll be able to keep it heated all evening and through the night, not without sacrificing running water.”

“So I get to be in an unheated camper with two, cold bodied vampires during a snowstorm on a mountain. Great.” Bella snickered. “Sounds fun.”

“I don’t know if it will be or not,” Alice said as they got to Bella’s room. “Anyway, you should change into your pajamas. It’ll be fun like a slumber party.” She said with a wink and left Bella with her bag at the door to her bedroom. She went inside dropping said bag on the dresser, rummaging through it, and pulling out her pajamas and her bag of toiletries. It was already after nine, the chances of her going to raid the vampire’s kitchen for a snack was quite low, and so she figured she’d get ready for bed now. The prospect of camping out when she hadn’t expected to made her decide that she could always tell Alice she was tired and wanted to turn in a bit earlier. That way she could enjoy a longer stretch in the luxurious bed and try not to think of sleeping fully clothed, in a winter jacket, and little more for heat.

Once she was changed and readied, she brought her stuff back to her room, stuffing them in the bottom of the bag, then went in search of Alice. 

Bella was halfway down the stairs when she realized she’d been a bit duped.

“Alice left, didn’t she?” She asked the seemingly empty room.

“Yes,” Aro replied. “She was very, very adamant that I return from my hunt not long after sunset. I thought it had something to do with a possible danger, or maybe an unexpected meeting. I can’t say I’m disappointed with her reasoning.”

Bella went the rest of the way down the stairs, then searched the room for him, spotting him to her right just in the shadows.

“Did you? Hunt, I mean? I don’t want you to think you have to hold off for me,” Bella asked as she approached him.

He smiled, eyes a brilliantly bright red. “Yes,” He assured her, stepping toward her almost cautiously.

She glanced around the house, the only light being that from the moon outside, and a light on in the next room. “Is anyone else here?” Bella asked. 

“No one but you and I for a few hours,” Aro replied. “Once again, Alice was kind enough to carve out time we would have had difficulty doing on our own.” 

Bella huffed, a light laugh in her voice as nerves started creeping in.

“So,” She swallowed. “You and me, a few hours to ourselves.” She said, brushing her hair back behind her ear, suddenly very aware that she was in her pajamas with him in his normal fair, buttoned to the collar. 

“Imagine all the questions you could ask,” Aro said with a grin. “All the answers you could possibly get. And with no interruptions.”

Chewing her lip, Bella stepped closer, reaching out a slightly shaking hand to run along the lapel of his jacket. “Does it have to be that?” She asked, her other hand taking hold of the second lapel before she managed to meet his gaze.

“What did you have in mind, _mia amata._ ” Aro asked, inching slightly closer. 

Taking a deep breath, Bella shifted the jacket off Aro’s chest, back over his shoulders, down his arms until it fell away from his body. Setting it on a nearby table, she returned her hands to his chest, slid them up to his shoulders, and pulled herself toward him. She kissed him long and slow, feeling more confident when his hands came to her waist, shifting her closer.

“Ah,” he said when she pulled back, a wicked grin curling his lips. “I see. A chaste evening of board games is what you had in mind.”

She couldn’t help but snicker as she leaned back in, threading her fingers into his hair.

Aro’s hands drifted down, a slow lingering touch before he grasped the back of her legs. Knowing his intention now that she had experience with it, Bella hoisted herself up with him, legs holding firm as she dared run her teeth just slightly on the outside of his lower lip.

He chuckled in his throat while kissing her back, and then there was a rush around them that Bella instinctively knew was them moving.

Breaking the kiss to see where they were, she was unsurprised, pleased, and nervous to find them at the threshold of her bedroom.

“Is this what you wanted, Bella?” He asked her, mouth just by her ear, lips grazing her jaw.

“Yeah.” She said, nodding vigorously. “Definitely.”

He moved much slower toward the bed, and laid her down gently, hovering just over her.

Loathed as she was to do so, Bella couldn’t help think of Edward at that moment. How he would never, _ever_ have allowed her to be under him like this. He would always be beside her in the bed, behind her. And if she were to try and kiss him the way she was kissing Aro right now, he would retreat to the far end of the room and tell her that it would never be. He’d say he’d hurt her, break her, possibly kill her.

But she didn’t want him anymore. What she wanted was within her reach, and if it was something stupid amping up her desire like fate or destiny, she decided she didn’t rightly care at the moment. Her heart knew what it wanted. Her mind did, too. If her soul happened to be very pleased with the idea, well, that was a bonus.

While Bella’s heart pounded she took a risk. One button at Aro’s collar came loose at her command. Then another. Her fingers went down to the next, then the next, one after another until she had to pull the shirt from where it was tucked in his pants to get to the last of it. And the whole time he hadn’t stopped giving small, measured, but delirious kisses on her lips. When his shirt was open, Bella ran her hands down his chest and stomach, feeling the cool, smooth skin of it all. Her fingers went through the patches of coarse hair, something she hadn’t expected and probably should have.

When Aro retreated, she nearly whined in complaint, prepared to protest and beg as she would have with Edward. But Aro merely undid the buttons of his cuffs with inhuman speed and tossed the shirt aside. He removed the chain holding his Volturi crest from around his neck, setting it on the nightstand before returning to hover over her, his kisses growing longer, more ardent. Bella’s hands immediately went back to their exploration, shifting around to his back, down his spine, back up, down his chest and abdomen again. Her fingers touched the belt at his waist and started to undo it. And then, slowly, expecting him to stop her, pulled it from the loops.

This was it, at any moment she would wake up. Bella was now convinced as she tossed the belt on the floor, the clank and thud of it alien to her ears, that she would find she somehow fell asleep somewhere else. Passed out watching a movie, or completely alone in her bed, Alice had never left and probably in another room shopping for dresses or designing one herself.

The belt gone, Bella went for the button and zipper, managed to get the former open, and latter only partway down before cool hands caught her wrists and gently but swiftly brought her hands up by her head and pinned them there.

Panting when Aro broke the kiss, she looked up into crimson eyes, fully prepared for the lecture she had anticipated from the moment she started all this downstairs.

“Not this night,” Aro said, shaking his head as his hair fell around them.

“Right,” Bella said, trying not to let on how disappointed she was.

The smirk Aro had said she didn’t have much success. 

“You’re mistaken, _mia amata,”_ He said before kissing her just a touch longer than what he had been. Letting go of her wrists, he moved one hand to her abdomen, tracing along the hem of her camisole before sneaking up just underneath it. “When I say ‘not this night’, I simply mean that I will not be on the receiving end of anything.” His hand inched higher, and Bella’s eyes widened as the breath left her lungs in a surprised huff as those long, cool fingers stopped short of anything interesting. “But I’ll not leave you wanting. There are, after all, so many other ways to be lovers. If it’s what you desire.”

Bella nodded, “Yeah,” She said, “I’ll yeah. Yes. All of it. Any of it.” Then cringing, said, “Oh, that sounds desperate. And… pathetic.”

“No,” Aro assured. “No, it’s not either of those things.” He kissed her again. “There is no shame in knowing what you want, Bella. There is no shame in admitting you have desires, of wanting to act on them. I only ask that perhaps some of those desires remain unfulfilled in the meantime.”

His hand disappointedly trailed down, then pleasantly skimmed along the band of her shorts.

“Alright,” Bella sighed happily, wiggling a bit in an effort to move his hand down further. “I think I can deal with that.”

Aro’s laugh was a beautiful thing, and Bella basked in it, in him, his hands and his presence, his voice in her ear and his kiss on her lips. His hand dipped below the band of her shorts, and she took as he gave freely until she simply couldn’t take anymore.

~AB~

It was both far easier, and much more difficult than he’d have thought it would be.

Venom had filled his mouth on occasion, and his urge to bite had his jaw relaxing and tensing from time to time. Bella sang an opera meant only for her ears, and he the maestro that caused her voice to soar. She burned where he caressed, where he touched, where he kissed, and he _wanted_. But Aro maintained control, and Bella never once questioned why he didn’t remove a stitch of her clothing, or why he occasionally ducked his head away from her. She didn’t attempt to kiss any part of him that wasn’t his lips or cheeks as if she knew it would likely break him if she did. And blessedly her teeth didn’t nip. She had no idea how much that action made him want to return the favor.

Sleepy and sated, and once more settled into her bed after Bella took what she adorably called a “human moment”, Aro laid beside her as her eyelids grew heavy while she ran her fingers along his chest.

“You’re beautiful.” She murmured. 

“As are you,” Aro replied, kissing her forehead a moment.

She smiled, “you made me feel beautiful.” Scoffing, she shook her head. “And I think I’ve lost a few brain cells there, saying things like that.”

“I would say I accomplished much if I made you feel that way. Because you were absolutely breathtaking.”

Bella blushed, hiding her face in a moment of semi-virginal shyness before turning back to him.

“How do you know I’m not hideous under the pajamas? Like, maybe I have scars or something.”

Aro arched a brow, “Isabella, I have known you for only a few months, and I would be more surprised by a lack of scars than the amount there are. That aside, I didn’t need to see you with my eyes to know you are every bit the exquisite creature I already believed you were. My hands did a very thorough examination.”

She giggled at that but didn’t blush again. Instead, she reached for him, and Aro went gladly.

He kissed her, enjoying the alien feel of a lover being too tired to really put much passion into it. He had no real recollection of his human partners from before his change, and a vampire might grow bored but never tired. This was something unique, an experience he would have never bothered with before her.

Bella’s eyes were nearly completely shut when he pulled back, lids heavy with exhaustion.

“Will you stay? Until I fell asleep? I know you can’t afterward, but leading up to it?”

“Get comfortable, _mia cara._ ” He replied, and when Bella shifted on her side, he pressed up against her. She shivered but said nothing, wiggling backward to press further up against him. Instead of putting his arm around her, he lightly traced a finger up and down her arms, listening to her heartbeat start to slow as her breathing began to even out.

How was he meant to survive two months without her, he would never know. And now that he would take this night with him to have in those long, tedious hours before her arrival in Italy, it was sure to make the wait that much worse. But he could wait, and would. And if after her change she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to commit herself to him entirely, he would respect it. 

But he hoped and would continue to hope that she would choose to stay with him instead of fighting their bond and live apart. 

He closed his eyes and imagined, for a moment, Isabella after her change. Sitting in the library inside the castle, at his favorite desk, a book in her hand as she took in all there was to learn with time limitless and her thirst bearable. He could picture the sun coming through the window, hitting her skin just so causing millions of facets glimmered. Aro couldn’t for the life of him imagine sticking her in the tower with Athenodora should she choose him. He didn’t even want to. Yes, there was the danger of something happening to Bella, causing him grief much like Marcus suffered. But her spirit would carry over, burn brighter, and it didn’t deserve to be caged for the sake of his peace of mind. 

He pictured more. Of how he saw her this night but with the features gleaned from Alice’s visions of future Bella. 

He let his mind wander to those imaginings and beyond until Bella was asleep. 

Not wanting to linger longer and risk giving her nightmares, Aro rose from the bed and redressed, ensuring everything was as it should be before he went down to retrieve his jacket.

Carlisle and Esme were the first to return, joining Aro on the balcony where he took in the cool night air, a book on his lap unread, his thoughts too much on Bella to bother.

“The camp has been set up,” Carlisle told Aro as he sat in the seat across from him. “A simple tent would have been practical, for sure, but it’s far enough up the mountain that no one should see it before we can take down. At least this way Bella and Jacob can take care of their human needs away from the cold.”

“It was thoughtful of you.” Aro conceded, admittedly having not thought of that.

Carlisle smiled. “Patients tend to remind you of those small things we’ve long forgotten about. Even Edward, despite being around them in school and having had Bella around can forget now and then.”

“I hadn’t thought to tell Bella that Jacob would be staying there overnight as well.” Aro said as he closed the book and set it aside. “It had slipped my mind.”

“Did she settle in alright?” Esme asked as she joined them, either having slipped inside to check on whether Bella was asleep or to take care of some other matter. “I had thought Alice was meant to stay with her.”

“I returned early, and Alice wanted to join her mate.” Aro replied, unsure how much of a lie there was in that small bit of truth. “And Bella settled fine, she fell asleep about an hour ago.”

Esme smiled softly, but her attention was diverted to the forest where Aro could hear another three vampires coming toward them. 

When Edward cleared the railing, he looked wildly between the three of them, sheer panic written on his face.

“She’s fine.” Esme said, reaching for Carlisle’s hand and giving it a squeeze. 

Edward relaxed. “When I saw Alice I worried. The idea of Bella being left alone-”

“I was with her.” Aro confessed as Alice and Jasper joined them.

Edward cringed. “I suppose that _is_ better. At least to some degree.”

“Did you get enough time?” Alice asked Aro, only the sparkle in her eye suggesting it wasn’t an innocent inquiry.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t mind an additional hunt.” He played along. “I find myself… not thirsty, per se, but feeling it best to ensure I’m completely satiated before the battle.”

Alice looked as though she was barely able to keep the smirk from her face, and Jasper outright snickered. Both must have either been masking their thoughts from their brother, or Edward saw precisely what they both knew to be true and thought them completely idiotic for thinking it could happen.

“Don’t go east,” Alice said as he got up. “Rose and Emmett went that way and got a bit… distracted.” 

Edward scoffed and shook his head, heading inside the house.

“I will.” Aro agreed, taking off west to be absolutely certain to avoid the amorous couple.

~AB~

“Right, so… what do I do?” Bella asked Jasper, trying to ignore the two vampires and Jacob behind her. 

Jasper looked so damn amused that if she wouldn’t break her hand in the process, she’d probably smack him and tell him to stop. But really, she couldn’t blame him. 

Bella had no idea what Aro was thinking about or had been since she woke up and came down to the kitchen for breakfast earlier in the morning. She, on the other hand, was thinking of him. Of the things he could do with his hands, of the way his lips kissed and whispered things to her in the dark of her room. Of how she really wished there would be more time for more of _that_ before Italy. She would glance at him across the room and find him looking back with a subtle smirk that he would need to tame down. Edward hadn’t seemed to notice then, but after a bit, something or someone must have wondered at it because then he started watching them suspiciously.

Whatever was going on clearly was carrying over, and Jasper was feeling all of it. Which was terribly annoying because her frustration with it was probably amplifying the humor he saw in it all. 

“You’re gonna load this area down with your scent,” Jasper said, gesturing to the vast area. “Touch everything you can walk around for as long as possible. When you’re done, Jacob is gonna take you up the mountain where you’ll meet up with Aro and Edward. You’re gonna stay there.”

“Right, yeah, about that. Not a huge fan of the outdoors.”

“Esme made sure you’d be as comfortable as possible,” Edward spoke up, and Bella dared looked at him over her shoulder. He smiled so lovingly it made her stomach clench miserably. “All your human needs can be accommodated.”

“Right, so there’s running water?”

“A very small amount, yes. Probably wouldn’t want to take a shower.” 

“Good thing I got one this morning, then,” Bella grumbled before turning back to Jasper. “So… frolic?”

Jasper grinned. “Try not to trip too much.” He disappeared then, getting in the truck and taking off.

Bella watched Jasper go before turning to the three remaining supernatural beings. “So, Jake’s supposed to help mask my scent, right? So?”

“I’ll go around to the other side where we’re supposed to head up to the camp together.” Jake nodded, heading into the trees and likely moving around the vast clearing. 

She then looked to Edward and Aro. “And you guys?”

“Providing the expected scent of vampire around you. We won’t mask you the way Jacob would.” Edward replied.

With a nod, Bella started walking around. 

At first, it felt silly, wandering about, touching a tree here and there, wondering if maybe she should have brought some dirty clothes and scattered them about for easier distribution. 

“It’s getting chilly,” She remarked for the sake of filling the oppressing silence. 

Alice had thrust a down parka in her hands before they left, and there had been a pair of gloves and hat in the pockets. Bella slipped on the jacket right away but had waited on the accessories. 

“Is it?” Aro asked curiously. “I suppose I can taste it in the air.”

“What’s it taste like? The cold?” Bella asked, twisting to look at him. He was still a good ten feet away, Edward almost glued to his side.

“Like steel,” Aro replied, “or blood too rich in iron.”

“Oh come on,” Edward groaned, turning a beseeching look Aro’s way.

He smiled at the younger vampire. “You don’t find?”

“It tastes like ice,” Edward replied. “And mint.”

Bella ran her fingers from her hair while she considered the differing opinions, a few strands coming loose in the process. She shook them off, letting them float off in the wind, hopefully to catch on a tree. 

“I don’t recall what mint tastes like,” Aro replied. “And I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted ice, as I’m fairly certain I was from the warmer regions of Greece.”

“So, I might say cold tastes like ice,” Bella said thoughtfully, walking backward a few steps. “Or I might think it tastes like something totally different.”

“It’s possible. But, Bella, please, would you watch-” Aro had started to say but stopped.

Bella had turned while he was talking, moving forward, and before she knew it, promptly tripped.

An arm caught her around the waist, but only a touch too late. Bella could feel the burning sting of a scrape on her hands and knew that she was currently bleeding with a vampire holding on to her. 

“Shit.” She said, her voice pitching every so slightly.

“I’m not breathing, _mia cara._ ” Aro said, near enough to indicate it was him that had caught her. Edward was beside them as Aro righted her, and Bella looked between the two of them in a panic. 

“You need to get back,” She told them, gesturing with her head while she pressed her hands together in an attempt to keep them from bleeding too much. “Both of you, please. I don’t want to make either of you uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t bother me anymore,” Edward said as he reached in his pockets and pulled out a couple of bandages.

“Since when?” Bella asked dubiously as Edward started opening a band-aid.

Edward glanced at her. “Since I spent twenty-four hours thinking you were dead.” He replied, gesturing for Bella to give him her hands.

“Yeah… not sure that thinking I’m dead is suddenly going to make you immune to my heroine-like blood.” She said, inching backward.

“Bella,” Edward started to argue, but Aro held up his hand, causing him to stop.

“Even if you no longer held such appeal for Edward, a minor injury is not going to insight bloodlust in either of us.”

“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t quite believe that, given that after a paper cut-”

“Jasper was thirsty.” Edward cut in. “And careless in that regard, considering he knew full well we were expecting you.”

“The real concern would be if I hadn’t caught you,” Aro said as Edward tugged at one of Bella’s hands, turning it over and applying the bandage. “Your scent is one I’m quite used to now, but I admit had you given yourself a nasty gash, I’d have been clear of this field and partway to the north just to prevent myself from mistakenly hurting you. And I’d have dragged Edward with me as a precaution.”

Bella snorted at the image of Aro grabbing Edward by the collar and just running. It distracted her enough to let Edward bandage her other hand.

“So, that’s gotta help things, right? Bit of blood added to the mix?” She said with a gesture to the rock.

“Perhaps, but let’s not add more than that,” Aro smirked. “Stick to the touching of the trees and the odd strands of hair.” He said as he brushed her hair away from her face, catching a few strands himself and scattering them.

His touch, however, was made that much icier from the cold, causing Bella to shiver. To think she’d been pressed against him as she fell asleep, his torso bare against her clothed back, and she had been comfortable. Even if Edward wasn’t going to be with them, there would have been no bed-sharing tonight.

“Apologies,” Aro said. 

“It’s fine,” Bella said. “Just… makes me want to get this over with sooner, get somewhere warm.” 

“We’re a third of the way through,” Edward said, a nudge on her arm to remind her to move.

She was much more careful this time, watching her feet and only stumbling a few more times. None had caused her to scrape herself at least. By the time she made it to the spot where Jacob had been waiting, the weather turned sharper, colder. Once her task of marking the area with her scent had been completed, she immediately reached into her pockets for the warm gloves and eagerly wiggled her fingers into them.

“Alright,” Edward said with a heavy sigh. “So, we’ll meet you at the camp. Aro and I are going to take the longer route, but we’ll get there first.”

“We know you’re capable, but there’s no need to carry Bella the whole way,” Aro added, then with a mischievous grin said. “Of course, it would likely prevent further injuries.”

“Oh shut it,” Bella grumbled, glancing up at a snickering Jacob in warning before turning back to Aro. He seemed ever so slightly closer and looked rather expectant. After a second, she caught on. “No, it’s too damn cold.” She said with a grin, making Aro giggle quietly.

“I suppose I can’t argue that.” He said. “We shall see you at the camp.”

A few seconds later, Aro and Edward were gone.

“I’m surprised anyone let those two be alone together, after what happened at training,” Jacob said as he knelt down, turning to put his back to Bella. 

Awkwardly, she climbed on his back, holding on tight. 

“Don’t tell me something more happened.” She said as he got to his feet, seeming to find Bella nearly weightless.

“Yesterday? No. It seemed like everyone was making a point to keep them apart. The pack noticed, and of course, because he can hear everything, Edward got to hear it all.”

“I suppose the pack was hoping Edward had ripped Aro’s head off,” Bella commented as they began their trek up the mountain. 

“Actually, they were hoping for a rematch yesterday. While they can’t argue that Aro was distracted the day before, they also realized Edward wasn’t really fighting so much as… slapping him around.”

Bella put her face against Jacob’s hair, taking in the warmth and comfort. “Can you… can you tell me more about imprinting?” 

Jacob laughed nervously. “What?”

“The imprinting thing. You asked if vampires did, and… I want to hear what it’s like. More than just gravity holding you to the ground. Is there free will? Like, can someone reject an imprint? Is it… does it have to be love?”

“No,” Jacob replied, still chuckling a bit. “It’s… you’re meant to be the perfect match for one another. But it’s also thought to be an old way of ensuring the gene passes on, you know?” Jacob shrugged. “I mean, think about it. Your perfect match for carrying on the gene may mean, you know, you like each other enough. But, well….”

“Are you trying to make me feel better about this? Because, really, it’s not working. Vampires, for one, can’t really pass on the gene, so to speak.”

“No, but isn’t it supposed to be forever?” Jacob asked, sidestepping a rather large fallen tree. “Look, you wanted to know if you can reject an imprint. Well… sorta. Yes, I guess. See, Emily didn’t want to hurt Leah, but Sam… well, Sam’s a bit overbearing. He just kept going back again and again, trying to get Emily to see his side of things. And yeah, eventually she came around, and they got together, but he still loves Leah, too. Part of me thinks he’d have given anything to have imprinted on her from the get-go. It’s just not how it worked.”

“So,” Bella looked around, huffed, then patted Jacob’s chest. Getting the clue, he set her back down but took her hand to guide her over the uneven path. “Between us. Or, at least as between us as I think anything can be with those two waiting for us.” Jacob snickered at that, and Bella grinned for a moment. “Both of them say I’m meant to be with them, but Aro has mentioned soul mates. And, well, I can’t exactly ask any of the Cullens. Alice saw her future with Jasper, Rosalie literally saved Emmett and carried him to Carlisle to change him. Aro’s told me that Carlisle met Esme when she was human before he found her again in the hospital. And it’s just… none of them, as a vampire, had had a connection to someone else before. And Aro said that vampires sorta feel more, I guess. But… fuck, Jake.” She stopped turning to face her best friend. “I want to believe what I feel for Aro is real. He’s… I don’t want to say perfect, because he’s not, he’s just sorta-”

“Perfect for you?” Jacob guessed.

Bella sighed. “Yeah.”

Jacob let go of her hand, then put both his on her shoulders. “So run away with me,” He smirked, then laughed at what must have been a truly horrific facial expression given the visceral reaction Bella felt in her soul. “Joking. _But_ , as someone who wanted _you_ to be perfect for _me_ , don’t let a little thing like soul mates get in the way.”

“But how can I not? It’s not me feeling anything that way.”

“Look, did you look at him for the first time and want to throw yourself at him?”

“No.”

“So why aren’t your feelings yours?” Jacob asked, dropping his hands from her shoulders and taking her hand again. As he continued guiding her up the mountain, he went on. “And I mean, who’s to say the normal, average, everyday humans don’t have soul mates, too? People meet, they sorta connect, they get to know each other. Rest is history. You’re still human, Dracula’s very much not. You didn’t just drop to your knees and profess undying devotion. You got to know him, somehow. And you… have feelings for him.” 

Despite the look of utter distaste while voicing the last of his opinion, Jacob had never looked older, more mature, than he had at that moment. 

“Why are you so wise?” She asked, making him laugh, breaking the illusion that he was anything more than a sixteen-year-old who just happened to be insightful from time to time. “Though I have to ask, Dracula?”

“Yeah,” Jacob smiled proudly. 

“Why?”

“Because you don’t like it when I call him the freaky one,” Jacob replied with false innocence, and Bella laughed.

~AB~

It was by an unspoken agreement that Aro and Edward broke off from each other to hunt. Despite Edward’s claims to Bella, and admittedly Aro’s own, both had noticed a lingering change in one another’s eyes. No, a scrape wouldn’t have incited bloodlust, but the scent of blood had lingered in the air. Aro hadn’t breathed after realizing Bella was injured, but he’d gotten a whiff of it beforehand. Better he and Edward were both safe rather than sorry.

He’d had only just gone outside the boundary in which he wasn’t allowed to hunt in, and found a poor, unsuspecting human who would likely later be deemed a casualty in the storm when he was never found again. 

He was at the camp long before Edward and had a moment to investigate it. 

To his right upon entering the small shelter was a pair of benches and a table. A sink and stove were across from him, and he suspected the enclosure immediately to his left was the washroom. Beyond that, and taking up a third of the entire place was a bed. Big enough for two, easily, which would mean a spot for both Bella and Jacob.

Not precisely an image Aro enjoyed, but one he could concede was likely necessary. Bella was human, and just his touch on her cheek earlier had been too chilled in the rapidly freezing air to be comfortable. Jacob, on the other hand, was warm. Far warmer than a human. He couldn’t be certain, but Aro thought the air inside the trailer tasted cold, perhaps not as much as outside, but enough that what little power reserves the structure likely had probably wouldn’t hold out warming the entire space the whole afternoon and night.

Aro stepped back outside, wondering to himself just how much the young vampire would complain, and preparing for a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to get this one ready for today! Yay! (Also, didn't even realize until the day after that I had posted the last one on Bella's birthday in my time zone. huh)  
> Thank you all so much for the support and patience you've shown me and this fic.  
> A massively modified camp conversation heads up the next chapter (also... aside from forcing Bella and Jacob to bed share with Edward watching, I genuinely couldn't find a reason why they had to be in a tent. The Cullens off-roaded a volvo for crying out loud).  
> Until next time.
> 
> PS-My favorite bit to write last time? The end of the Aro/Edward spar.


	19. Chapter 19

Night had fallen, and the storm outside grew worse. There was a gentle rock to the structure that seemed to have made Bella nervous early on, though she hadn’t said anything. 

It had been a strangely subdued affair leading to her getting ready for sleep. There had been books stored in what appeared to be a closet, as well as a couple of board games to help keep the mortals entertained. She’d spent the entire time crammed with Jacob at one of the benches until she rose to heat a couple of cans of soup on the small stove.

Edward had tried to keep the heat running on low, but it was a fruitless endeavor that would only drain the minimal power reserves available, and so eventually -as the weather grew worse- the heat came off.

She seemed relatively alright now, though. Aro had watched her drift to sleep in the large bed with Jacob behind her, providing a buffer to the window. He didn’t look tired, propped up on one elbow, looking between the window over his shoulder and Bella before him.

The time passed like that, quietly for the most part. Jacob seemed to sort of allow his mind to wander, still but for his breathing. Aro had chosen a book, sat opposite of Edward, and decided to go over the text as slowly as possible. Once in awhile Edward, who had chosen not to do anything to pass the time, would growl quietly, slam a hand on the table (which put a dent into it at one point), and look ready to spring across the room.

After about the dozenth round, Aro asked, “What are you so tense about?”

“I can name a number of things,” Edward grumbled.

“Please do,” Aro looked up, “Perhaps we could settle what’s got you ready to rip the shelter apart.”

Edward’s face screwed up as though he’d drank blood from a long-dead body. “I’m trying to understand why you would take away the last thing that would have kept her soul pure. If you really love her.”

“What difference does it make?” Aro asked, glancing about the room. “By your words, she’s either damned if she becomes one of us or becomes soulless. If the former, what’s a small sin in the eyes of… whoever. And if the latter? Well, she won’t have a soul to be judged.”

“You could have hurt her. Killed her.” Edward protested.

“No, I would not have. Even if things progressed to the point you’re thinking they had, I’d have had control over myself.” Meeting Edward’s eye again, he added, “I’m hardly without experience.”

“Wait,” Jacob said from the bed, “You and Bella…?”

“Did not engage in what Edward is implying,” Aro replied. 

Edward frowned. “Alice saw…. And you didn’t deny it.”

“What is there to deny? I have no idea, precisely, what you saw in Alice’s mind. Whose decisions she was watching when she clearly came to the future that happened.”

Edward didn’t seem to have the courage to ask, and Jacob seemed to understand at least to some degree what was being said. 

“What do you think of your kind?” Jacob asked, and Aro turned toward him. “Are you soulless or damned?”

“Neither,” Aro replied. “I came from a time and place where there really weren't such notions, not in the way that Edward does. There were sins, one could be damned, but you had to be quite heinous. Simply being turned into a different species would not count. 

“We all have a soul, it just happens that us beings who go beyond simply human get to hold on to ours for a little longer. Forever, if we’re lucky. Being turned… it merely means we’re already frozen as we’d be for eternity once our souls did pass over. The undead is fitting for that.” Aro frowned. “I suppose, though, should I ever find myself on the wrong end of a flame, I’d quite likely not end up in Elysium.”

“Our sole purpose is to murder humans.” Edward protested.

“And in that way of thinking, a lion’s sole purpose is to murder a gazelle.” Aro countered. “It’s food. And yes, I suppose a lion in captivity wouldn’t have quite the same diet, but why should the ones in their natural habitat be considered wicked and evil for doing as their instincts intend?”

Edward shook his head. “You’ve lost all your humanity.”

“Define your definition of humanity.” Aro countered. “Because I’m not compassionate to a human, I have none? I still feel empathy for others of my kind. Compassion. I have tolerance for others' choices so long as they don’t risk our existence. I have no love for anyone who forces themselves on another - our kind and human alike - and I certainly don’t let them live. I have friends. And I love. In particular, I love that wonderful creature in bed with my natural enemy. One whom I trust, despite all reasons I shouldn’t.”

Edward scoffed, “If you knew some of the things he’s been thinking.”

“He can think all he likes.” Aro shrugged.

They lapsed into silence for a moment.

“Don’t,” Edward said suddenly.

“Don’t what?” Aro snapped.

“Not you.” Edward retorted.

“Oh?” Aro looked to the young shapeshifter who glared at Edward. 

“It’s a question,” Jacob told the younger vampire.

“Don’t ask it.” Edward shook his head.

“No, please, Jacob.” Aro waved a hand toward him.

Jacob glared at Edward as he asked, “What will it be like? For her to change?”

“Hell,” Edward replied. “Like being burned alive.”

“It is painful,” Aro replied. “But it is worse when one isn’t prepared.”

Both of the young men looked at him.

Aro explained. “You didn’t know what was about to happen. Nor did anyone in your family. Nor do many of our kind. It’s a bit of an assault, really, when you think about it. We’re bit and left to writhe, wishing for death, hoping it would come. Not realizing that it’s only a few days and not weeks or years that pass. Carlisle… he’s only ever changed the dying, or near dead. An act of love, really, of mercy. I do wonder if despite the pain you all felt if it was to a more tolerable level because of it.

“But for the majority of those that I have changed, they knew what was to happen, what to expect. I had asked if they wanted this life. Sulpicia, Didyme, Jane, Alec, Felix, they knew what to expect, and when they underwent their transformation, it had been calmer than most. Bella knows what to expect, more than most. And what’s more, she’s asked for it, confident in her decision.”

“Do you really think she won’t suffer?” Edward asked hopefully.

“I didn’t say that. I said it would be calmer.” Aro corrected.

“We’re sick for days,” Jacob said thoughtfully, his gaze unseeing. “We tell people outside the tribe we have mono or the flu. It feels like…,” he scoffed, “it feels like we burn alive, and then have our bodies twisted and broken. And then, in the end, we’re a wolf, and we don’t know how it happens. Then there are all these voices in your head, and you know them, and they try to help, but you’re too confused and disoriented to make sense of it.”

Aro smirked. “How interesting. Just another difference between you and a proper werewolf.” 

“Are there even any werewolves left? After Caius hunted them?” Edward asked.

“I would imagine. He was hardly subtle about it, it’s likely they passed the gene on, laid low.”

“So if I’m not a werewolf then what the fuck am I?” Jacob asked, and Aro couldn’t help but the delighted laugh that spilled out.

“Something unique.” He told him as he leaned back on the bench. “In all my years, I’ve never once encountered anything like you.”

Jacob smiled smugly, and Aro supposed he had a right to. He wondered if the boy knew anything that might explain his ability, a story or legend and if he’d be willing to share it. It would certainly be a fascinating thing to discuss.

“How will tomorrow work,” Edward asked. “With the newborns. Keeping Bella safe during the fight?”

“Seth will come up here in the morning,” Jacob replied. “He’ll be there to let you know what’s happening while you two escort her down the mountain if it is Victoria like we all suspect.”

“Who is Seth?” Aro asked.

“Our youngest. He’s only fifteen.” Jacob explained.

“What if we kept her away from the fight,” Edward asked Aro. “Her scent is already around the field, she already helped. Bringing her there will only put her at risk.”

“She wants to be there.” Aro reminded him.

“She wants a lot of things that she shouldn’t.” Edward reminded. 

“That doesn’t make them bad.” Aro countered. “We bring her down the mountain. If it is Victoria, she’ll likely try and come to us, to you. If it’s not, then we bring a scent they are already intensely focused on closer, and are able to head off any newborn who dares go near her.”

~*~

Eventually, they fell silent, allowing Jacob to succumb to sleep as well.

“I hate that he’s here as much as I’m glad of it,” Edward commented after a time. “I can only imagine how much colder she would be otherwise.”

Aro glanced around the small, metal enclosure. “Warmer than canvas by far, but still not warm enough for a human, I would wager.” He turned the page, though didn’t resume reading as he had earlier, sensing it wasn’t the end of the conversation.

“How doesn’t it bother you? Having him and her… together like that.”

“They’re sleeping.” Aro countered.

“But if you only knew how he was thinking before….”

“As I had said then, they’re only thoughts. I’ve been inside young Jacob’s mind, have seen every fantasy of Bella he’s come up with. I assure you, it’s nothing you haven’t thought of yourself when you allowed it. In your darker moments.” Aro replied, glancing up and meeting Edward’s eye. “You should truly get over that. You’re only a hundred or so years old, you’ve a very long life ahead of you if you keep berating yourself for not meeting your own maddening expectations regarding purity.”

Edward scowled, but only a moment. “It’s hard to let go.” He confessed. “Coming from a time when you courted someone, had chaperoned walks, or tea on the porch. Where a kiss wouldn’t even be stolen until you’ve asked for a lady’s hand and she accepted.”

“I suppose, frozen as you are, it would be rather difficult to let go.” Aro conceded, nodding slightly. “But I am curious, given your very set ideals: what would you do if you discovered your mate to be male?”

Edward scoffed. “Bella’s my mate.”

“Bella is your singer, not your mate. I won’t say you don’t love her, because I know you do, but you may find yourself rather disappointed when she’s changed and she looks upon you for the first time.”

“And you’re sure you’re her mate, then?” Edward asked, doubt dripping in his tone.

“I am. But we aren’t talking about me. Though for the sake of transparency, had my mate turned out to be a male it wouldn’t have made a difference. But what of you? I know Carlisle had turned your sister with hopes, but I doubt - given his own heavily religious upbringing - that such a thought would have occurred to him.”

Edward’s face contorted. “I can’t imagine that would be the case.”

Aro shrugged, returning to his book.

“You’re leaving,” Edward said after a moment. “When we’re done, you’re returning to Italy.”

“Yes,” Aro said, already feeling the loss of Bella’s company. Of Alice as well, and perhaps even Emmett and Jasper. He found, quite suddenly, that he had grown rather fond of certain members of the Cullen coven. 

“What would you do if, while you’re gone, Bella finds she doesn’t want you after all. What if she chose me?”

“What if she chose Jacob?” Aro asked in turn, glancing at the pair in the bed. “She loves him, she’s said as much.”

Edward sighed. “Then… I would let her go. I’ve only ever wanted her to have a normal, human life. He could give that to her, at least as close to one as he could.”

“Would you?” Aro asked. “Because I seem to recall your wanting her to stay away from him quite a bit.”

“If she tells me to stay away, I will.” Edward sighed. “Eventually.”

“Eventually,” Aro rolled the word around his mouth before shaking his head in exasperation.

“But what would you do? If she chose me while you were gone?” Edward asked again. “Have me killed? Destroy us both?”

“Despite what you may think, I would do neither,” Aro replied, meeting Edward’s gaze dead on. “What good would it do? I kill you, then Bella would hate me for it for eternity. I destroy you both, I might as well throw myself on the pyre as well for all the good it would do me.”

“You’re _that_ certain she’s your mate,” Edward asked incredulously.

“I am,” Aro replied. “She has laid claim to me, whether she realizes it or not. I’ll never take another lover, no one else would suffice. If she fought the bond, chose you, she knows I would stay as far from her as possible to ensure her happiness.”

“It’s not as easy as you might think,” Edward told him. “Once she has your heart, you find it’s impossible for you to keep away from her.”

“I never thought it would be easy,” Aro said. “But I love her. And because I love her, if she wants nothing to do with me I’d let her go. I would stay away. Because the idea of displeasing her is far worse than the idea of living without her. I’ve done that for thousands of years already. I’d rather exist in a world where she happily did as well, than one where she either was miserable or hadn’t existed at all.”

A flutter of a heartbeat silenced them both, and Aro listened as it eased back down. He watched the rise and fall of Bella’s chest, her back to them as she faced Jacob who was sprawled out on his stomach on his side of the bed. 

“A dream, I suppose,” Edward remarked.

Aro narrowed his eyes on Bella, remembering how she was when she had been asleep before he left her the night before.

“Perhaps,” He agreed but knew that even Edward could see he was highly suspicious that Bella had been listening to them.

Whether she liked what she heard or not, it was impossible for either of them to know.

~AB~

Bella was imagining the long, lengthy thanks she would give Esme and Carlisle for their wondrous thinking. 

It was cold when she woke up. Freezing, really, once she left the cocoon of warmth the bed and Jacob provided. And instead of needing to have her human moments behind a rock or a tree out in the snow, she could do it within the (still cold) bathroom of the camper. Aro or Edward turned on the heat once she was awake, which made things a bit better. So as she nursed a cup of tea, unable to really eat with the underlying nerves, knowing what the morning was going to bring, Bella thought of thanking the elder Cullens.

And she _will_ thank them because they _will_ all get through this.

“ _Mia cara_?” Aro’s voice startled her, and Bella looked up and about. 

She quickly realized her ruminating had resulted in her not noticing the three had left. 

Or that at some point Aro had traded his jacket for a cloak. 

He frowned, stepping inside and allowing the door to shut. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t know.” She confessed. “If something happens to the Cullens, I’ll always know it was my fault. And I can’t…”

“Bella,” He said firmly, causing her to focus on him. “They may not have experience with newborns, but they are as prepared as possible. They know the risks, as you know the risks being so near the confrontation. What’s more, they are natural hunters, past the stage that makes them most unstable. Your scent in the field will make it difficult for the newborns to focus.”

She nodded, then sighed, putting her head in her hands. 

“I have something for you.” He said, getting her attention once more. 

Bella lifted her head and watched as he reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a gold, engraved lighter. Bella frowned as she took it, noting that it was etched with the Volturi crest.

“I’m not the one who normally burns the remains, though I carry that with me to help… dispose of evidence, as it were.” 

Bella cringed but nodded, looking from it to Aro in worry and confusion.

“I think when we are through, if Victoria is indeed the one behind all this, that you be the one to burn her body.”

“So why give it to me now?” Bella asked, nervously running her thumb over it. 

“Because when either myself or Edward remove her head, you should light the body as quick as possible.”

“So she doesn’t piece herself back together.” She nodded, standing from the bench to better put the lighter in her pocket. Her hand came in contact with cold metal, stilling her for a moment. Without more than a second of hesitation, Bella put the lighter in her pocket and pulled out her Volturi crest. 

She didn’t think it would be comfortable sleeping in it, had made a habit of putting it under her pillow. Now she lifted the chain around her neck, adjusting it after so the V sat comfortably in the center of her chest, over her sweater but under her jacket.

She caught Aro’s eye, noting the almost proud look in his eye as he noted it’s place of honor where someone could see it.

“Protection, right?” She said with a nervous grin and a slight shrug.

“One hopes.” He agreed.

“Edward, Jacob?” She asked.

“Both waiting outside,” He said, ”currently arguing over whether or not the youngest shapeshifter should come join us in the end. Jacob believes it will help keep this young one out of the fight, and provide a link to the battle as we get there. Edward is arguing it will only mask your scent more.”

Bella nodded, not really sure what she could say, not even sure whose argument would be best. Then she looked back at Aro and remembered the terrible, awful dream from a few nights ago when she saw the absolute worst that could happen. 

“I wish I’d hugged them all, just in case.” She said, shaking her head. “Just in case the last time was-”

“Shh, shh, shh,” Aro hushed her, in front of her quicker than a human but not so fast that she didn’t see it all. He took her by the arms, though she couldn’t feel it through the thick down of her jacket. “Don’t think the worst, _mia amata._ It will not help you to do so.”

She nodded, leaning her head against his chest, placing her hands on his waist to steady herself before taking a deep breath. Bella closed her eyes and breathed deep. She tilted her head, taking in the scent of his skin with his neck so close.

“Don’t you dare,” He whispered, “I can’t have those lips of yours on my neck right now.”

She burst out laughing, pulling away to be able to see the mirth dancing in his eyes.

“Why are you wearing a cape?” She asked, taking one hand away to fist the red lined fabric.

He scowled. “I’m sure you know-”

“Jacob calls you Dracula, I’m beginning to see why.” She smirked.

He tilted his head. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or amused.” He replied. 

She chuckled, stepping away from him as she zipped her jacket up a bit more. “Right, well, suppose there’s no more hiding, is there?” She put on a brave face, shifted past Aro, and stepped out into the morning sun.

Snow crunched beneath her feet, a fresh but not thick blanket covering the area. 

Jacob and Edward stopped their conversation as she put her hands in her pockets and headed toward them. 

“So,” She bounced on her feet. “What’s up?”

“Just a bunch of vampires trying to kill you.” Jacob retorted.

“So nothing new, then?” Bella attempted a smile, but it was weak and fleeting. “When are you leaving?”

“Seth’ll be here any moment, whether this one wants him here or not,” Jacob said firmly, gesturing to Edward. “So, I have to phase and join the pack.”

Bella nodded. “Well, be careful, alright? Just… don’t die, okay?”

“I’m not the one going down today,” Jacob promised then went in for a hug that Bella gladly returned. Her hands touched his bare skin, and she shook her head at the ridiculousness of how warm he was despite being in nothing but shorts on a mountain top when the air was still clearly below freezing.

Jacob stepped back, then looked to Aro.

“Keep her safe,” Jacob demanded.

Aro nodded, and then Jacob turned, started to run, then phased between one step and the next. He disappeared through the trees, and Bella watched him go uneasily.

None of them could die. None of them were _allowed_ to die. Bella had no idea how she would have ever been able to prevent such a thing, but if she had it her way every single Cullen, wolf, and Aro would walk away from this whole mess uninjured. She shoved her hands in her pockets, her knuckles hitting the lighter within, her fingers on her injured hand touched the bandage wrapped around her palm and wrist. With the various sensations, Bella grounded herself, reminding herself that stewing in her thoughts wasn’t going to solve anything. 

Before she could move, something nudged her, and she looked to the side and smiled at the small-ish, light gray wolf panting happily at her. 

“Hey, Seth.” She smiled, reaching out a hand and scratching him behind the ears. 

He appeared both completely pleased and utterly humiliated by the gesture, and Bella couldn’t help the chuckle. Shifting her hand to under his chin, she did the same, causing his tail to wag, laughing a little harder.

Suddenly he stopped and tensed, then turned to where Edward and Aro had stood a few feet away, watching.

“It’s starting,” Edward said, his eyes unfocused.

“Then we should start moving,” Aro said.

“Are we leaving everything behind?” Bella asked, gesturing to the campsite.

“We’ll not need anything for now,” Aro replied, moving to her side and putting a hand on her back, easing her toward the path.

Edward and Seth followed, the former often grumbling and talking to himself, barely loud enough for Bella to hear. Every name Bella heard him say had her tensing, worrying, terrified. They were only about five, maybe ten minutes away from the campsite, still nowhere near where the battle was taking place when Edward suddenly stopped.

“Victoria,” Edward said. “She’s close, I can hear her thoughts.”

Bella tensed, edging closer to Aro.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Aro told Seth who whimpered. “We’ll be fine on our own, go. Do as your Alpha asked you.”

Seth looked reluctant to leave, but turned, dashing back toward the campsite.

“She knew we weren’t there, but she caught my scent,” Edward grumbled, glancing around at the trees surrounding them. The spot they were in wasn’t as clear as the campsite, but it wasn’t overrun with growth, either. The side of the cliff they just descended from a manageable slope was just off to the side.

Going back where there would be more space would prove fruitless, even with one of the vampires carrying her. 

“Shit.” Bella cursed quietly, trying to find some spot for her to be out of the way, given what was likely to come.

Edward turned sharply to Aro, and the two shared a look, a conversation that Bella couldn’t hear that would only likely go one way. 

“It’ll throw them off,” Edward said with a nod, and Aro disappeared in a blur of black and red.

Glancing around, trying to figure out where he would have gone to, why he was gone in the first place, Bella found herself being guided by Edward. He was putting her back to the slope they’d come from, guiding her as best he could while still listening.

“Them?” She asked, hoping Edward would give her some insight.

He met her gaze. “She’s not alone.”

Edward turned away acting like a shield, putting himself between whoever was coming from the woods and Bella.

She watched the trees, and when Bella watched Riley Biers step out of the forest her heart ached for the family who had been trying desperately to find him. Who she knew now likely would always wonder what happened to him as they would never find him in any form. 

But there was also relief when she realized he was the only one coming out toward them, sizing them up, edging ever closer at a slow speed.

Then Edward started inching away. 

“Riley, listen to me,” Edward said lifting his hands in a placating gesture. “Victoria’s just using you to distract me. But she knows I’ll kill you.” He took a few steps further away from Bella. “In fact, she’ll be glad she doesn’t have to deal with you anymore.”

Victoria suddenly appeared not terribly far away, perched on the top of a boulder not far from where Riley was. 

“Don’t listen, Riley. I told you about their mind tricks.” Victoria said in a sweet voice.

“I can read her mind, so I know what she thinks of you.” Edward taunted.

“He’s lying,” Victoria promised Riley.

“She only created you and this army to avenge her true mate, James,” Edward said, and Riley shook his head, glancing back at Victoria as if for confirmation.

“And that is what this is all about, isn’t it?”

Bella looked around for Aro, trying to figure out where his voice had come from before he landed effortlessly beside her from somewhere she couldn’t see. 

Victoria noted him, her eyes widening as fear and hate grew in equal amounts over her features.

“It’s you.” She hissed.

“Yes,” Aro said. “It is. Come to judge, as is my way. Allow me to understand, you want to kill this human because young Edward killed your mate, is that it?” Aro asked, his posture and mannerisms so much more like Bella had seen in Volterra that she hadn’t realized he’d relaxed a bit since being here. 

Victoria said nothing, growing tenser as the seconds passed, and Bella reached into her pockets and carefully, slowly withdrew the lighter Aro had given her earlier, keeping it tight in her fist at her side. 

Edward shifted, and Bella’s gaze darted to him. He had a horrified look in his eyes, his face contorting in betrayal, as Aro turned and circled toward Bella, moving behind her. 

“If it had merely been Edward you were trying to kill, I would have allowed it. But you’re going after Isabella, and I’m afraid I just can’t let you.” Aro put his arms around Bella, his hands taking hold of the collar of her jacket. And Bella knew what he was about to do, or at least she had assumed. “Bella doesn’t belong to Edward, you see,” Aro said as Bella tipped her head back, trying to convey that she was alright with his planned revelation.

She didn’t expect him to dart down and steal a kiss as he pulled her jacket open, revealing the crest resting against her shirt. It had been a quick thing, long enough to prove that it wasn’t a ruse, should Victoria think Aro was merely negotiating Bella’s life.

When Bella turned to Victoria again, there was a sadistic glee in her eyes.

“Even better.” She said, and in a blink, she moved. Aro was gone, the sound of stone hitting stone in the air. It got louder, as suddenly Riley and Edward was a blur as well. 

Edward was suddenly skidding to the ground on his hands and knees, then surged back toward Riley before Riley could get anywhere near Bella. Then there was a crash, the splintering sound of a tree breaking, and Bella watched as Victoria fell with it, as if she’d been hiding in the branches. 

She charged toward Bella, getting rather too closer before a black blur landed between them, corralling her back and away.

Feeling helpless, Bella clenched her fists, reminded suddenly of the potential weapon she had in her hand.

Glancing around, she dove to the ground, ignoring the cold dampness seeping through her denim as she shifted the lighter to her bandaged hand, and pushed the snow about one-handed until she found what she was looking for: a fallen branch.

A quick peek over her shoulder told her nothing, but the two fights were happening in such a spot in the clearing that it was rather unlikely they were watching her overly close. Sprain be damned, Bella ripped the cloth and elastic bandage from her hand and wound it around the end of the branch. Secured as best as possible, she opened the lighter as a deep growl cut through the clearing, as well as the crash of rock hitting rock.

Bella turned, heart pounding, and time seemed to slow.

From the corner of her eye, She’d seen Riley with an arm around Edward’s neck, holding him in a very similar way to how Edward had had Aro during the training. Aro had had his hands on Riley’s head and was twisting it off while Riley cried for Victoria. The satisfaction in those red eyes turned to fear as Aro realized he’d made a mistake.

Victoria was a blur, speeding toward Bella. The rock she had initially landed on had a Victoria shaped indent, and Bella could figure out what likely had happened. Aro had likely tossed Victoria against it, assuming she would be disoriented long enough for him to help Edward. Edward, who had likely made a slight slip up, which resulted in Riley getting the upper hand. 

Both Edward and Aro were looking at Bella in horror, and without a second thought - despite how stupid she would likely look and how likely this plan was about to spell her doom, Bella swung.

The instant heat was as intense as the scream was shrill and loud. Victoria stopped inches away from Bella, Aro just a couple feet away looking at the body set ablaze, paralyzed as it was destroyed by fire. Bella had stumbled backward, her arms smoking as she fell into the snow, the flames she hadn’t realized caught her jacket extinguishing before it could spread. Her hands felt singed with stinging pain from the cold and wet telling her she hadn’t gotten away completely unscathed. 

She watched with fascination as Victoria’s body collapsed to the ground, turning to ash rather quickly all things considered. And as Edward came over, stopping beside Aro to toss Riley’s head, then body, onto the pyre, Bella realized exactly what she had done.

She had beat a vampire.

With a bit of quick thinking, a pair of burnt hands, and what was beginning to feel like a re-sprained hand, Bella managed to stop her tormentor. 

Frowning, dizzy, and utterly confused, Bella whispered, “What… what the hell did I…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, let me tell you. It's been through some things, man. I wrote and rewrote the beginning of this for many reasons. I have three or four opening or differing drafts with so many different conversations. That's why this took as long as it did.  
> The good news is I'm already part way done the next bit. The bad news is real life is about to get a bit busier, and I don't know what my writing time will look like. Expect a week, but when it's ready, I'll post ASAP.
> 
> Thank you all again for the continued support of the fic, and your patience with me and my very chaotic posting schedule. Until next time.


	20. Chapter 20

“Are you alright?” Aro’s voice cut through the strange ringing Bella hadn’t realized was happening in her ears. 

She supposed the ringing would explain why she felt so utterly disconnected from herself and the scene around her. Or, at least, it helped her realize she’d felt it in the first place. Bella had barely put the lighter to the bandage, had barely been able to swing. It was far more likely that she should be writhing right now, feeling that burn of venom through her whole body instead of just the sting of a burn on her hands. 

And yet she was there. And Aro was there, at her side, looking at her with those wild eyes she had seen on the battlefield. But now, instead of looking all the world like a ruthless killer, he appeared vulnerable.

When Bella said nothing and only stared back, Aro bent down, taking her hands and pulling her up to her feet. Bella hissed and whimpered at his touch, wincing at getting an idea that she had definitely re-sprained her hand. Aro immediately let go, moving his hold to her arms, looking exceptionally close at her face.

“She’s still standing,” Edward pointed out. “When James bit her she couldn’t even look at anything straight.”

“What?” Bella asked, looking between the two of them in confusion.

“Victoria….” Aro trailed off, shaking his head. “She was on you, _mia cara._ She’d… she tried to back away when she realized you had the torch but you managed to catch her hair. We thought….”

“Hey,” Bella said, reaching up to touch his cheek, ignoring how the strands of his hair irritated her skin. “It’s okay, I’m okay.”

“We almost lost you. I should have-”

“You saved Edward.” Bella pointed out. “If you went to stop Victoria, Edward wouldn’t be here.”

“If you hadn’t been quick enough, you wouldn’t have been.” Aro retorted.

“You’d have gotten her off me before she killed me.” She said with confidence. “I would have had a second life. Edward wouldn’t have.” She turned to Edward, seeing the awe and appreciation in his eyes, as well as something else she couldn’t name.

Aro shook his head, getting her focus once more. “ _Tu bellissima, stupida, magnifica creatura. Sarai la morte di me e voi, prima che stai mai cambiato.*”_ He said before pulling her to him and holding on as if someone would try and rip her away.

“’Kay,” She said, making him laugh, relief heavy in the merry sound.

There was a low growl, and Bella and Aro parted to see Seth looking at Edward, Edward looking back at him before whipping around accusingly to Aro. 

“You called the guard?”

“I did not,” Aro said with vehemence. “I take it they’re here, then?”

Edward remained quiet for only a beat before saying, “On their way, Alice has seen it, and asked the warning be passed up to us. We need to move.”

Without question, Aro scooped Bella up, carrying her bridal style as he took off at a run down the mountain to where the main battle was.

Despite not being the one who did the running, she was breathless when they stopped. Bella’s eyes took in the wolves, the Cullens, and the large fire off to the side that spewed purple smoke not dissimilar to that she belated recalled seeing coming from Victoria and Riley’s remains. 

“How long?” Edward asked a second after Aro set her down.

“Not long, maybe ten minutes,” Alice replied. 

“Whose decision?” Aro demanded.

Alice met his eye. “I don’t know. Jane, I think, but she only decided to come _here_ when they noted the smoke.”

“The wolves need to leave,” Aro said to Carlisle, looking around the field.

“Jacob’s nearby,” Edward said, likely hearing who Aro was looking for. “He’s-” Edward stopped, eyes widening.

“What?” Bella asked. When he didn’t reply, she demanded, “Edward, he’s what?!”

No answer came. Edward said Carlisle’s name and they were already starting across the field when there was a horrific sounding howl. Wolves emerged from the woods and zeroed in on one spot.

Turning to look up at him, Bella didn’t even have to ask before Aro was scooping her up again and bringing her to where everyone went. As soon as he stopped, Aro turned, putting his back to the scene and shifting the hand on her back to cover her eyes.

“You don’t need to see that, _mia cara.”_ He told her.

Bella shifted about trying to get out of his hold. “Aro,” She complained.

“Isabella,” Aro said, voice firm. He met her eye pleadingly. “It’s not pretty.”

“Okay,” She said.”Can you…?”

He set her down, and Bella moved around him to get to Jacob.

Her stomach rolled, and she was thankful she hadn’t eaten that morning because it would have been all over the snow if she had. As it was, she could barely keep the bile from rising in her throat as she took in Jacob’s grotesquely twisted body. She could look past his nudity, that was nothing on the sheer agony in his face as Carlisle examined him. 

Swallowing a couple of times, Bella shakily got down on her knees beside Jacob’s head, stroking his hair. 

“Bella?” Jacob asked, his voice week and gravelly.

“Here, I’m here.” She said, wishing she could be of more comfort. She looked at Edward who held Jacob’s hand while Carlisle tried to help Jacob as much as he could. “What happened?” She demanded of Edward, needing to know as Jacob let out a howl of pain.

“There was a stray newborn,” Edward said over Jacob’s whimper as the pack emerged, dressed at least partly, arguing. “Leah had him cornered, but the newborn was quick. Jacob came to help, but the newborn got its arms around him. The pack finished it off before it could kill him.”

“You need to get him out of here now,” Aro told Sam who stood at the Volturi leader’s side as they looked over Jacob’s broken form. “Vampires from my coven are coming, and if word of you and your pack get back to my co-leaders, you and the Cullens are in danger.”

“We’ll take him back to Billy’s,” Sam said with a nod, the pack moving to help lift and carry Jacob away.

“I’ll be there as soon I can,” Carlisle said as he and Bella backed up to make room for the others.

“Me too.” She promised, knowing she had to be there for her best friend. 

“Come,” Aro said, picking her back up. “The guard will be here soon.” 

In a flash, they were back with the Cullens, and Aro was setting her down. Edward came to her side, and he and Aro exchanged a glance, Edward nodding once with a sort of seriousness that had Bella tense. Alice was at her side in a beat as well, taking Bella’s hand and giving it a supportive squeeze while she looked to Aro with a single nod.

Aro only met Bella’s eye a moment before he turned, shoulder’s squaring, chin raised, posture rigid. It had been months since their first meeting, and Bella had forgotten what he was like on first acquaintance. She hadn’t realized how much he relaxed while being here with the Cullens, with her. She’d forgotten he was someone to be feared, even with the memory of him ripping Riley’s head off with ease. That he commanded a coven of ruthless predators and held power over the vampire world.

He’d never been that to her. He was merely Aro. With his delighted, sometimes manic sounding laugh, his dark sense of humor, his vast knowledge, and tenderness she often forgot he showed only to her.

The four guards emerged from the woods, first at vampire speed, then slowed to human speed as Aro moved to meet them partway. His cloak fluttered about in a weirdly majestic way, much more than it did around the four Volturi guard.

They all stopped as one, side by side, and bowed.

“Master,” Jane said before she and the others straightened and removed their hoods. “When you called, we thought you would need assistance.”

“I called for the jet, nothing more,” Aro replied, his voice commanding. He scanned the line. “Alec,” he said, and the boy stepped forward. He held out his hand, and Bella watched Aro take it. There was silence for a long moment, and then Aro let go. “Caius was that concerned with my absence, was he?”

“He wanted to be sure you wouldn’t linger long with the plane here.” Alec voiced what Aro likely already knew. 

Aro nodded once. 

“It’s impressive,” Jane said, looking around the field. “I’ve never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact.”

“We were lucky,” Carlisle replied.

Jane smirked. “I doubt it.” She said, glancing at Aro. 

“Now, Jane.” Aro scolded like an affectionate father. “Carlisle’s coven is more than capable of handling a few, misguided newborns. Admittedly, you missed out on the fun, but there’s always another day.”

Jane nodded once, but when she turned away, something caught her eye, making her smile. “You missed one!” She pointed out excitedly.

Bella hadn’t even had time to panic when she heard the voice of a young girl cry out in agony behind her. She turned as Aro barked Jane’s name, and suddenly the teenage girl she hadn’t noticed before stopped crying out, panting unnecessarily, and looking pleadingly at Esme.

“Carlisle?” Aro asked, still commanding, but slightly kinder.

“We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender,” Carlisle replied, stepping slightly forward.

In an instant, Aro was back among them, hand held out to the girl as though he only meant to help her up.

Bella’s heart began to race as she watched the girl take his hand, and Aro pulled her to her feet. Cupping her hand in both of his, Aro bowed his head much like he had when they were in Volterra. 

After a few seconds, Aro looked up at the young, his hands moving to cup her face.

All the Cullens except Edward and Alice twitched toward them, Esme seeming to have the hardest time not running forward. Understanding hit Bella then, that Aro had positioned himself in such a way that he could deliver a swift judgment based on what he’d seen in her mind.

“You’ve had a rather hard life, Bree Tanner.” He said gently, taking the girl -Bree- aback. “I do hope your second life is more pleasant.”

“Aro?” Carlisle asked.

Aro let go of Bree, stepping back from her and taking on his commanding tone again. “She did not know the true reason she was created. More so, she did not break any law, though came rather close a couple of times. Her thirst is quite controlled for one turned as she had been. She finds Isabella’s scent appealing, enough it nearly makes me thirsty, but she’s resisting. I grant her pardon.” He finished, flashing a grin to Esme.

“Thank you,” Esme said, stepping up to Bree and putting a motherly arm around the young girl’s shoulders.

“Master?” Jane asked, disappointment heavy in her tone.

Aro turned and strode toward them, cloak flowing and fluttering about his form. 

“You four, you will return to the jet. I have a few loose ends to settle here, and then I will join you.” He told them.

“Do the Cullens need assistance clearing the mess?” Felix asked, glancing about the field.

“No, thank you, Felix,” Aro replied, his voice a touch kinder. 

The four bowed once more, and as they put their hoods on, Jane’s eye caught Bella, her gaze lingering a moment before they all turned and disappeared through the trees.

When they were gone, Aro turned back to them, relaxing slightly. 

As he strode toward them, he said, “Carlisle, while I understand the expedience in which you’ll need to return to young Jacob, I ask you have a look at Bella’s hands. She likely burned them when she managed to ignite our friend Victoria.”

“Did you fall over the body, Bella?” Emmett teased as Carlisle glanced worriedly between Aro and Bella before appearing at her side to have a look.

Bella scoffed, wincing a little as Carlisle took her appendages and turned them about. “More like I killed her by setting her on fire.” She replied with a casual tone, a shot of adrenaline rushing through her at the reminder that she had done that.

The silence was deafening, but instead of seeing what everyone thought clear on their faces, Bella focused solely on her hands as Carlisle examined them, and Emmett’s smile began to grow with pride. 

“Badass.” He said approvingly, nodding slowly.

“It was a rather exceptional sight,” Aro remarked, and Bella peeked up at him. The quirk of his lips and the intensity in his eyes had her blushing. 

“You’re the one who gave me the lighter.” She said sheepishly.

“To prevent her reconstruction, not to fashion a weapon with though I’m infinitely glad you did.”

“As am I,” Edward said as Carlisle finished his examination.

“Your hands have burns but they’re only first degree. I would say you re-sprained your hand as well, but nothing too bad.” Carlisle diagnosed. “I’m going to go back to the house, get my kit before going to Jacob.”

“How long will it take him to heal?” Edward asked.

“I imagine a couple days. He was healing remarkably quick, but even still it will take time.” Carlisle replied. 

“I’ll return with you to the house, make the arrangements needed for my departure,” Aro said with a nod, then turning to Bella. “I’ll not leave before tomorrow. Go to Jacob.”

She nodded in turn, and then he and Carlisle were gone.

Edward looked to Bella, “How well known is it who’s in the pack around the reservation?” He asked her. 

She blinked. “Umm, I dunno. I think most know, but not… not everyone? I really don’t know. A few teachers, but they might be the ones who have a family history.”

“But people like Charlie wouldn’t.” Alice reminded them. 

“He’ll need a reason why he was hurt,” Edward said. “An accident of some sort.” He then grimaced, glancing sideways at Alice who smiled serenely. “I suppose that will work.”

“What will?” Bella asked, watching Alice zip to Emmett, saying something to him before he grinned excitedly. A second later he was gone, Rosalie rolling her eyes and following him.

“Jacob’s car needed a part,” Edward said slowly, confusing Bella. “He’ll have asked if he could borrow your truck to drive it out of town to get what he needed. And… he’ll have gotten into an accident.”

“An accident?” Bella repeated before understanding hit. “Why? Why the truck? The truck is great, why does it have to-”

“You won’t be without a form of transportation for long,” Alice assured, coming back to put a hand on Bella’s shoulder, offering a smile.

“Oh good,” Bella said sarcastically.

There was a whimper behind them, and Bella turned to see Bree tense, eyes closed.

“She smells good,” Bree said softly. “I know I can’t, but I want to….”

“Come on, sweetheart,” Esme said, encouraging Bree to turn, move. “I’ll take you on a hunt, find you a deer or a mountain lion.” 

Bree nodded, giving Bella an apologetic glance before she and Esme disappeared.

“I’ll help you take care of your hands,” Edward offered. “We can either return to your house or mine.”

“Probably better to go to mine,” Bella said, looking down at the angry red spots on her hands, the purple bruising forming on her re-injured one. “Maybe burn some cookies to explain this.” She said, gesturing with her hands.

Alice laughed. “I don’t think you need to burn _them_ , just made it plausible that you burned _you._ ”

  
  


~*~  
  


When Bella had arrived at Black house a couple of hours later, she was greeted by an excruciating sounding scream from Jacob. Bella stared at the Black house in horror, realizing that the sound was from inside it, so loud it could be heard with perfect clarity despite the windows and doors being closed. 

Billy was on his porch, appearing as though he could barely keep it together, Emily attempting to comfort him as best she could. The rest of the pack hovered around outside, wincing in sympathy.

“It’s been going on for a while,” Quil told Bella as she approached.

“Doc’s rebreaking his bones,” Embry explained as another scream broke through the air.

Bella nodded, swallowing the sympathetic lump that threatened to make her burst into tears. 

“Can someone take Edward’s car back to him?” She asked without really looking at anyone. “It can wait, until after. Just… he’s waiting at the treaty line.”

“I’ll do it when it’s done.” Quil offered, taking the keys to the Volvo Bella offered and pocketing them.

With another scream, Bella clutched her pendant, trying to draw a bit of comfort and strength from that small bit of metal without even realizing she was doing it. Quil put a comforting hand on her shoulder, for which she was grateful, and focused on the unnatural warmth and thought of Jacob.

It was a relief when Carlisle and Sam came out, a sign that the end of the worst had come.

“The worst is over, he’ll be alright” Carlisle confirmed, addressing Billy first and foremost. “I gave him some morphine, but body temperature will burn it off soon. I’ll come back to set up a drip once I get what I’ll need.”

“Thank you,” Billy said, clasping Carlisle’s hand gratefully.

“Can I go see him?” Bella asked.

Carlisle gave her a grin. “He might fall asleep while you’re in there, but if he’s alright with it it won’t hurt.”

She glanced at Billy who nodded, then ducked inside the house.

Jacob was in his room, where she expected him to be. Laid out on his bed, he was a mess of braces and bandages, sweat covered and tired.

“Hey,” She said, moving around to sit on the good side of him. 

“Hey,” he replied with a tired grin. “Was worried about you.”

“You were worried about me?” She asked in disbelief.

“Spotted the redhead, she went away from the fight. Up your way.” He told her. 

“She’s gone,” Bella assured.

“Who had the honor, Cullen, or Dracula?” Jacob asked, smirking.

“Actually, it was me,” Bella told him, and at his look of disbelief, she chuckled. “I sorta… lit her on fire. By accident.”

“By accident?”

“Well, I didn’t mean to, exactly.” She said, going on to explain what she’d done.

When she was finished, Jacob snickered. “Leave it to you. Must have felt good, though. Being the one to do it. You should be proud.”

Bella squirmed. “I sorta am. Just… uneasy, too. I killed someone.”

“You killed a vampire.”

“I’m going to _be_ a vampire.” She reminded him. “I just… I don’t know. Found it easier than I should have to accept. I almost feel a bit guilty.”

Jacob’s smile deflated a but, and with his good hand, he gently took hold of the crest hanging around Bella’s neck. “That might be a good thing.” He said, running his thumb over the rubies before letting it go. 

The phone rang in the living room, and she heard someone go to answer it for Billy.

“Hello?” Sam’s voice answered. “Yeah, he’s alright Charlie. Banged up pretty bad, but nothing too serious. Doctor Cullen was on the road when it happened. No, Bella’s here now. He brought her over when he went to the house to get his kit.”

Jacob frowned, looking to Bella for clarification. 

“You’ve been in a car accident.” She explained. “With my truck.”

“Your truck?” Jacob frowned more.

“Yeah. You had to get a part for your car out of town. Asked if you could borrow the truck while I was staying at the Cullens.”

“Huh,” Jacob replied, his eyes looking heavy. 

“Get some rest, Jake. I’ll be here.” She assured, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

He drifted off not long after, and Bella waited at his side. She held his hand and listened to the sounds of movement about the house. At one point, she must have drifted off herself, because she startled at the sound of something being set down, her eyes springing open to the sight of Carlisle on the other side of the bed.

He grinned at Bella, then looked to Jacob. “How’s the patient?”

“Feel like I’ve been crushed by a mountain,” Jacob replied groggily.

“Well, I have something that might help with that,” Carlisle replied, showing the IV bag to Jacob before he began to assemble the drip stand. 

“Anyone get hurt?” Jacob asked.

“Jasper took a few nasty bites, trying to keep the newborns away from Alice. Rosalie is licking her wounds, literally. A few scratches that were being stubborn healing on their own. Aside from that, we’re fine. Bree had her first animal hunt-”

“Bree?” Jacob asked.

“She was a newborn,” Bella explained, and at Jacob’s increased confusion, Carlisle explained.

“She didn’t want to fight. She was trying to stay out of it. We offered her a second chance.”

“How’d she do?” Bella asked as Carlisle hung the bag.

“Well,” Carlisle replied with a hint of a smile. “She’s quite fond of Esme and seems to want to do her best for her. I suspect the poor girl didn’t have much of a mother growing up.”

Bella nodded, pleased if not wistful at the idea of someone new joining the Cullens even if it wasn’t her. Not yet, and likely not ever.

She glanced up as Carlisle lifted something, spotting a needle in his hand and knowing what was coming next.

“How would you like to go to Florida?” She asked just before Carlisle pushed the needle into Jacob’s hand, focusing on Jacob’s eyes and nothing else. She might be able to burn a vampire alive, but she still couldn’t handle the sight of blood without getting a bit squeamish.

“What?” He winced and frowned.

Bella glanced at Carlisle. “If it’s alright with Carlisle and Esme, I wanna take you to Florida when I see my mom.” At Carlisle’s frown, Bella shrugged, “You bought the tickets.”

“And the companion ticket was for you to use how you chose.” He said, pressing against Jacob’s side and causing another grunt. “Edward may have been the original, intended user, but we would have thought you’d have used them after we left. By all means.” Carlisle smiled at Bella before focusing on Jacob. 

“Well,” Jacob managed to grit out. “If you want me there. For a bit anyway.” 

Carlisle finished setting up the drip, took Jacob’s vitals, then straightened. “I’ll be back in a few hours to check on you,” He told Jacob before turning to Bella. “I need you to come with me for a bit.”

Bella frowned. “Yeah, alright,” She turned to Jacob. “Be back in a bit.”

“See you then.” He said with a lazy wave, his eyes heavy and a bit glazed.

Carlisle was quiet in the car as they drove away from the reservation, but Bella had sensed that there were things he wanted to ask, or say, that he wouldn’t. It was causing a perpetual frown on her face until they rounded the infamous corner, and she spotted Aro and his black car parked on the other side.

His posture was much the same as it had been when encountering the guard, and she wondered if maybe she just couldn’t see someone in the car who might be watching. She got out of Carlisle’s car, and the moment she closed the door he didn’t exactly relax, but there was some eased tension.

Another car door closed, and Bella glanced over to see Carlisle got out as well, standing beside his door. He seemed to be watching Aro carefully, a little suspiciously. Bella didn’t know why, nor did she care. She crossed the street and made a beeline for Aro.

They stared at each other, only she blinked as she looked him over, taking him in as she came to the obvious conclusion.

“You’re leaving now.”

“I am.” He said with a nod, a touch of that commanding tone in his voice while there was a sadness in his eyes and his smile.

She nodded, looking at the ground, wanting to ask him to stay and knowing she couldn’t.

“I wanted to give you this,” He said gently, taking her hand, turning her palm up, and placing a set of keys in it, curling her fingers around them. “I bought the car when I arrived, but I have no use for it now. And your truck has been retired, so I’m told.”

Bella opened her hands and looked at the keys. “The car you drove when you sensed another vampire. When you came to Forks.”

“Oh, _mia cara,_ ” Aro said longingly, causing her to look up. “I said that because the truth was a bit much for just a second encounter. And, if we’re honest, still is. But I strive to be honest with you, and so I will say: I sensed _you_. I followed my instincts to you that first night.”

“Oh,” She said quietly, not sure what more she could possibly say to express everything bubbling up inside her that she refused to acknowledge and desperately wanted to accept. 

She closed her eyes, trying to stuff everything down where it was more manageable. 

“I can’t… even begin to think what I’m going to do without you.” She admitted. “All the little meetings we had, the conversations.”

“I believe I said you could call me whenever you wished, Isabella.” He said with a smirk, and she ducked her head.

“Back to that.” She teased, peering at him through her lashes.

“It’s a beautiful name, and I do so like how it feels on my lips.” He grinned in a charmingly wicked way that stirred very specific memories. “Though simply ‘Bella’ rolls of the tongue quite nicely as well.”

She shook her head, blushing as she regained her composure. She felt the bite of the keys in her palm, became conscious of the weight of the chain around her neck. “I wish I had something I could have given you.”

“Your time was all I wanted and all I need to carry with me. Until August, at least.”

“Until then,” She promised. 

After a moment, he whispered, “I have to go.”

Bella nodded, wringing her hands, biting her lip.

She wanted to say something. Three words, three syllables, and something she hadn’t said since Edward. And while she could acknowledge she had meant them at the time, they held nothing in comparison to what stirred within her when she looked at the red-eyed vampire before her. 

Edward had been slow then all at once. Intense. Frustrating. Stifling. Wonderful in its newness, but limited in its passion. It was bright and blinding. It was obsessive, all-consuming. 

Aro was steady from the onset, the accumulation of snowfall. Slow but constant from the beginning, building into something heavy and beautiful. Safe and comfortable despite the dangers it brought. As ancient as he was and as sturdy as the stone he felt like beneath her fingers. With him, she knew it was honestly unconditional, truly irrevocable. Finally, she was seen for who she is, what she wanted, what she was capable of.

The confession was perched on her tongue, attempting to push itself past her lips to fall at Aro’s feet and have it out where he could take it with him to Italy and hold on to while they spent a short time agonizingly far apart. 

But she couldn’t say it.

So she did the only thing she could in its place.

Bella took a deep breath, then launched herself toward him, grabbing his head and kissing Aro with everything in her. With everything she felt and couldn’t say. With all the parts of her heart and soul that already ached for him and he hadn’t even stepped an inch away yet. And he wrapped her in his arms in that firm but gentle way, cradling her head by putting his fingers in her hair. 

When Bella ran out of breath, she merely pulled back fast enough for another lung full before going back, knowing it would have to end soon. And when the second lungful failed her, she settled for pressing quick pecks to his lips before he gently but firmly put her at arm's length.

Aro looked like he wanted to devour her as much as he wanted to run. 

“Go,” She said softly, resisting the urge to steal one more kiss. “Go, I’ll see you soon.”

He clasped her fingers gently one last time, and then he was gone. 

Bella turned toward Carlisle’s car, expecting him to have been there, but Carlisle had turned to the woods where Aro had apparently vanished.

After a beat, Carlisle turned to look at Bella, shock in his gold eyes and slack jaw.

She blinked, and when she did she felt a tear fall from her lashes and drip down her cheek. Another blink and another tear from the other eye left a trail across her skin. She hadn’t even realized she’d started. 

Clasping the Volturi crest again, she braced herself for the all-consuming pain that she’d experienced when Edward left. 

She did feel like there was a hole in her chest, but it didn’t feel like it would consume her. She imagined, for just a moment, that this would be the last time she would ever see him, and it was as though all the breath was knocked out of her. 

_You’re going to see him. You’re a part of the world. You aren’t shut out from it. You will see him again._

“Bella?” Carlisle’s voice made her realize she’d closed her eyes, and Bella forced them open to find he was much closer than he had been before. “Are you okay?” He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, but then nodded, closing her eyes and squeezing the crest tighter. “I’m fine. I’m fine, I’m just… having a very stupid moment. He hasn’t even left Forks yet, right? And I’m going to see him in a couple months. It’s fine, I’m fine.”

“Bella,” Carlisle said gently, and when she looked at him again he gave her a very sad, understanding smile. “You’re family, and I promise we won’t leave you behind again. If you need us, we’ll be there.”

She nodded, murmuring her thanks before looking at the keys in her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at the car, her car now, and then started to move to the driver’s side door.

“I’m going to go back to Jake’s,” She said, unable to look at Carlisle for the moment. “I’ll, ummm…. Yeah.”

“If he needs anything, let me know,” Carlisle said, and Bella managed to meet his eye to affirm she would before getting in the car and closing the door.

She took a breath, Aro’s scent permeating the interior, easing her soul just as much as it hurt it.

Bella took only a moment before she put the key in the ignition, adjusted the seat, buckled. She looked out the window, seeing Carlisle watching her with concern, but that surprise from earlier was still there adding something that made it easier to bear. With a wave, Bella set off for the reservation.

She worried when she pulled into the Black’s driveway, and the pack came out from various points around the yard toward her. A half dozen possibilities flooded her mind, anything from Jacob somehow getting worse to newborns that somehow escaped the fight and came back. As soon as she parked, though, they all seemed to relax.

“It’s only Bella,” Sam called as she cut the engine, more confused than anything.

As she got out, Seth explained, “We smelled vampire and not Carlisle. We thought Aro, but we were told he was leaving tonight, so…. Plus, he’s not allowed past the treaty lines, only Carlisle is.”

“Just me,” Bella said with a shrug, then excused herself to head back inside the house.

Bella crept into Jacob’s room, and for the second night in a row, she crawled into bed with him, pressed up against his good side.

She didn’t weep, but the tears started falling fast and uncontrolled. It was like the pain she felt in her chest was escaping through her eyes so it wouldn’t overwhelm her, giving her an outlet so she wouldn’t fall into despair as she had before.

Vampires didn’t cry, they had no ability to. And would a man who reigned over a predatory species dare show any sort of weakness such as that anyway?

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Jacob asked her quietly, startling her without inspiring a physical reaction aside from her heart skipping a beat.

“Yeah,” Bella replied with a nod, her voice surprisingly steady despite the waterworks. 

Jacob said nothing else, just shifted his good arm and held Bella as they both fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *You beautiful, stupid, magnificent creature. You'll be the death of me and you before you're ever changed.
> 
> Thank you for all the support and love the fic has been getting, as always! Here we close out Eclipse as we know it, and from here on out we'll be heading into relatively uncharted territory. We're getting somewhere, and the very first seeds of that are being planted in the following chapter. I've decided to keep this as all one fic, but may change the title at the end. 
> 
> I have a playlist for this, but don't plan on sharing until we get to the end. But I may have had the song "Tether Me" by Galleaux while writing their goodbye scene.
> 
> Until next time


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: We have a bit more vampire related violence in this in regards to humans and blood. Just a heads up.

_Snap!_

Aro’s lip curled as he watched the body fall away, Felix and Santiago having held the arms of the vampire that was now in pieces. He looked at the face of the careless, arrogant vampire who had the nerve to think he wouldn’t know they had been making a spectacle of themselves. That he wouldn’t know they were demanding sacrifices from a cult in the highlands, that they hadn’t basked in being treated like a fearsome god. All of this hidden behind an attempt to frame the one who accused them. Who came to the Volturi while Aro was in America. 

Aro tossed the head into the fireplace, lit only for such occasions when an execution is expected. The body was removed, the arms tossed into the flame with the head, and Aro rolled his shoulders, trying to ease a tension that wasn’t exactly there. He then met Felix’s eye, and an understanding was made.

The accuser was brought forward with only a slight struggle, more confused than anything at why he, too, was being held down. Arms extended out and held by a pair of the Volturi’s strongest vampires, forced to his knees before the leaders. 

Aro peered down at him with a sweet facsimile of a smile.

“Caius has told me you came forward a little over a month ago. I am truly sorry for the delay. I was busy, you see, but I’m here now. And while I know Marcus and Caius listened to your whoas, and they had a truth to them, I do wonder how much.” He said before reaching toward the vampire, hands hovering over his cheeks.

“All of it.” He said firmly. “All of it was true, you had to have seen that.”

“Yes, I did.” Aro conceded. “But I have to know what _you_ knew.”

He made contact with the vampire, sifting through about four hundred years of thoughts, memories, until he found what he wanted to know.

Aro saw that the vampire had been benefiting from such offerings early on. Had indulged in some of the humans who wanted to give him more than blood as they had done with the other. But then the other vampire had ripped him apart, scattered his part and forced the slow, painful reconstruction that took an agonizingly long time. That it was only because of this betrayal that he came forward, and tried to plead innocent. Aro _could_ see that it had never been his idea. That it took a while before he participated in the offerings. That he knew it was wrong, and had been wanting to stop but the blood had been so sweet, so willingly given. 

Caressing the vampire’s cheek, Aro said, “It was quite brave of you to come forward, knowing what you were doing could put you at risk.” He withdrew his hands, clasping his hands together for a moment. “The laws exist for a reason, and it’s wonderful you knew that this was exposing our kind.” 

Aro moved, and then the vampire’s head was removed from the body, Felix and Santiago removing the arms.

“It’s just too bad you waited so long, and only came forward when you could no longer indulge yourself.” Aro said to the head before tossing it into the flame. 

It was his half-dozenth execution since his return a week ago.

Aro worked his jaw, running his tongue over his teeth, wanting to sink them into something. Then he took a breath, inhaling the scent of ash and smoke, the end of a life that could have been forever if only they hadn’t been so stupid. He then turned, and moved smoothly back to his throne, turning and sitting. Waiting for the next arrival.

Apparently no one did anything while he’d been gone. Unless it was painfully obvious, such as a dispute or an exposure, no judgments were made nor requests fulfilled while he was absent. It wasn’t as though these things happened daily, or even weekly, but it appeared they did simply let them build until he came back. 

No one came forward immediately, so Aro closed his eyes and let his mind cleanse itself. He pushed aside the thoughts and memories of the others, stuffing them into the little mental box he kept so many useless things in. And once that was done, he thought of Isabella.

He missed her. He missed her the moment he stepped away from her in the dead of the night, turning and running for the Cullen house to join Alice where she would bring him to Seattle to meet with the guard. He missed her more as the distance between them grew with every minute in the sky. He was beginning to have at least some idea of how Marcus felt every day. The ache in his chest made him edgy, easier to anger, and heat least had the knowledge that one day he would be with Isabella again.

Footsteps came closer, and he opened his eyes, compartmentalizing his annoyance at having his thoughts interrupted and putting on a bright smile.

He quirked an eyebrow when a golden eyed blonde walked in, finely dressed and with her head held high.

“Welcome,” Aro greeted her as she bowed her head slightly. “It’s been quite a long time, Irina.”

“Aro,” She greeted in return, raising her head to meet his gaze. “I’ve come to express concern. A man I cared for deeply vanished some months ago.”

“We’re not here to settle your romantic disputes.” Caius snarled from his throne.

“It’s not like that,” Irina assured with only a touch of indignation in Caius’ direction. She focused on Aro. “He got word from an old friend that she needed a favor. He left, and after… he never came back. I was hoping perhaps there was a chance you might have heard word what happened.”

Aro nodded, extending his hand. Irina took it.

He waded through the many memories until he came to her meeting with the man she spoke of.

Laurent. 

The one who had been a coven mate of Victoria’s, and who attempted to kill Isabella before the wolves stepped in and stopped him. 

Aro withdrew his hand, and stared off to the side, taming the knee-jerk rage before he could formulate a reply.

“I’m familiar with his face,” He began. “I’ve recently spent some time with the Cullens, you see.”

“They sent him to us,” Irina nodded. “He was interested in trying the lifestyle. It was hard for him, but he was doing well.”

Having recalled the red eyes from Jacob’s memory, Aro seriously doubted it. 

“I’m afraid none of the Cullens had seen him in some time.” He replied. “Though we did have an encounter with his former coven mate Victoria.”

“That’s who he was doing the favor for.” She said with a spark of excitement. 

“Well, she’s been taken care of.” He said dismissively. “I’m afraid you won’t get the answers you seek. If Laurent wants or can return to you, he will. If not….” He tilted his head as he shrugged.

Irina didn’t appear satisfied. “The Cullens might know?” She asked.

“Perhaps.” He replied.

Irina nodded, “thank you.” She said, likely not meaning it at all. Aro watched her turn and leave the throne room, the doors shutting loudly behind her.

“Are we done?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Yes,” Marcus said, sounding as tired as he always did.

Aro nodded once and marched out the throne room.

Should he call the Cullens and warn them? Or should he allow them to sort it out themselves. After all, the only Cullen who knew for certain Aro had seen anything of Jacob’s mind was Edward.

~AB~

“Your mind is miles away.” Charlie commented, snapping Bella back to the world around her. She’d been doing that a lot this last week when she wasn’t occupied by visiting Jacob. 

It wasn’t despair, she hadn’t sunken into a deep depression like she had in September after the Cullens left. If she were honest, Bella couldn’t really put a name to what she was feeling. Wistful came close, as did longing. Heart heavy, lonely, but none of those fit perfectly.

“Just thinking,” She said, dropping the crest she hadn’t realized she’d been playing with so it fell against her chest once more.

Charlie eyed it suspiciously, as he had from the moment she came home with it after Jacob’s accident.

She told him a part truth, it had been a graduation gift, and it came from where she was going in Italy. She left out the part of her vampire lover bestowing it on her as an indication that they were linked. Instead, she told Charlie it was from Alice, who had it shipped over as a surprise. Which, of course, made the car harder to explain. But, seeing as how Jacob happened to wreck her truck while she was staying at the Cullens, it wasn’t terribly hard to imagine she was borrowing it on a permanent basis. They did have a lot of fancy, flashy vehicles. One small, nondescript black car that could have been found nearly anywhere wasn’t something anyone with the insane amount of money they had would be sad to part with.

“You haven’t seen Alice for a bit.” Charlie pointed out, meeting Bella’s eye. “Did something happen while you were there?”

Bella frowned. “No.”

“Did that Aro guy make you uncomfortable?” 

The name was like a rush, and yet painful all the same. Not like before when Bella could barely stand to hear the word Cullen, or any of their names. She understood now what Aro had meant when he said his theory, that it was because they had ripped away the world she was supposed to be a part of. Because while that visceral, hole in her chest feeling had been agony, this seemed so much worse.

Only Jacob had asked about him in the last week, which was understandable as Bella had been avoiding the Cullens to allow Bree space to adjust. And when Aro’s name had been uttered, it was like a magnetic pull on her heart and soul that would never be met. 

She hadn’t been ripped from his world, he never told her to forget him, all traces of him had not been removed. She still wore the crest every day, drove his car, knew that there was a set time in which she would see him again. But it seemed like the days could not go fast enough for her liking. 

The last week felt like a year.

“No,” Bella replied emphatically, perhaps blushing a bit as her hand drifted to the V crest and held on. “Aro was… polite. Kept his distance while the party was going on.” 

“Mmmhmm,” Charlie hummed skeptically. “So why haven’t you been there for a week?” 

“They took on a new foster child.” She replied. “I’m giving her space, time to adjust.”

“Oh,” Charlie perked up. “I hadn’t heard.”

“They’re keeping it quiet for now.” Bella shrugged. “She had a rather hard life.”

Charlie nodded slowly.

“So what’s been on your mind then? You just sorta… space out. Kinda reminds me of when that Edward kid left. Are you nervous about Italy, or… maybe changing your mind?” The last was asked with a slightly hopeful lilt.

“No,” Bella said as she dropped her pendent. “Italy is very much the thing. I guess I’m just thinking of how to handle mom, and what she’ll likely think of Jake and me.”

“Well,” Charlie conceded. “You are taking him to Florida. You have been spending all your time with him when you aren’t with Alice.”

“They’re my best friends.” 

“So why not take her?”

“Alice is going to visit Rosalie and Emmett when I plan to go see mom. It’s kinda why I picked when I did.”

Charlie seemed to accept that, and Bella sighed, hoping it was the end of the interrogation. She glanced out the window, noting it was dark out. Funny, she only had a vague recollection that she’d gone about her day. Cleaning. Laundry. Cooking. Reading. A visit to Jacob. And now it was night, Charlie had a game on TV, and Bella had been likely staring vaguely at the opposite wall.

“I’m going to go up and get ready for bed. Probably read.”

Charlie snorted, but grinned. “Yeah, been doing that a lot, too, lately.”

“I like books.” She shrugged before getting up. 

She darted upstairs, going about her nightly routine, checking the time and glad it wasn’t so early that Charlie would have found it weird. Settled in her room, Bella picked up her book, opened it, and promptly knew she wasn’t going to read a word.

She glanced at the nightstand, at her phone sitting there with an unread message from Edward and nothing else.

It was morning in Volterra, but what did it matter? Unless they held all their important meetings then. But why would they? Vampires didn’t sleep. Time meant absolutely nothing.

The bill would be atrocious, though. She’d looked into it, and even the best plan would only give her a few hours of conversation a month. She’d changed it, of course, still having enough saved that she could cover it for a couple months. 

But was it worth using that call now? Only a week apart?

It wasn’t the first time she’d had this argument with herself. Bella had gone the first two days without talking to Aro fairly easily. Weekends were usually an untouchable space of time unless he was the one watching the house. But it got harder as the days went on. 

Now she knew she was about to cave.

Picking up her phone, she found his contact and called, bracing herself for him not to pick up. 

_“_ Isabella.” He said, his voice caressing his name in the same way it had all those months ago after they met.

Her eyes fluttered closed. “Hi,” She said, a smile pulling at her lips. “Not interrupting breakfast, am I?”

“Do you hear anything that would indicate an interrupted meal?” He asked.

“No,” She snickered. She brought her crest to her lips before she asked. “How-how were things? When you got back?”

He was quiet. “Do you really want to know what I’ve done since my return?”

“That bad?”

“It hasn’t been the most pleasant.” He conceded with a sort of indifferent tone. “And you, _mia cara_?”

“Counting down the days.” She said, picking at her comforter. 

“As am I.” Aro replied. 

“Oh?” Bella teased. “You’re looking forward to me going to Florida, too?”

“Hmmm, that depends. Do humans still find those smaller swimming costumes fashionable, or have the larger ones returned to favor?”

“Right.” Bella quickly chuckled. “So you’re over there picturing me in a bikini, are you?”

“I could picture you the way people in my time swam. Which is to say, in nothing.”

She slapped a hand over her face, blushing madly but also trying not to laugh. “I didn’t call you for the conversation to turn this way, you know.”

“Oh? And why did you call me, then?”

“Because I missed you.”

“Missed? Past tense?”

“I’m starting to miss you less, yes.” She said in a way that might have been a threat but was far too light to take seriously.

“How the guard would quack to hear you speak to me in such a manner.” He said delightedly. 

“You don’t scare me, you never have.” Bella retorted.

“Which is wonderful in itself.” Aro said affectionately. 

“Will I really be expected to, like, call you master? Bow? Watch my tone?” 

“Yes, but I will be greatly disappointed if you did,” He confessed. “I don’t want you to be my subject, I want you as my equal.”

“Your wife?” She guessed nervously.

“You don’t want that.” He replied with a hint of confusion.

“Good to know you’re giving me the choice in that.” She said, not even bothering to hide her relief.

“Isabella, I’ll not make you do anything you don’t wish to do unless what you wish goes directly against vampire law. And nowhere in our law does it state one has to marry. It was symbolic, if anything. An excuse for a party, if one felt it was needed.”

“Good to know that isn’t a thing you’re set on.” Bella remarked dryly

“ _Siamo anime gemelle, mia cara.”_ Aro said silkily. _“Non riesco a immaginare di volere qualcosa che ti renderebbe infelice*.”_

“Right, first thing I’m learning after my change is Italian.” She stated, causing him to giggle in that delightful way of his. 

“I look forward to being your tutor.” He said, which of course had her laughing. 

“I am supposed to be there to learn.” She agreed between giggles.

“Oh, and learn you shall.” He promised teasingly, making the giggles start up again.

Oh how she missed this more than anything. More than his touch, his kiss, his magnetic presence. She missed this, these moments where he made her smile and laugh. Where they teased and taunted, conversing as if they’d known each other for so much longer than a few months. 

This was the part of forever Bella looked forward to most.

~*~

It didn’t mean, however, that she didn’t miss seeing him.

Which is how she found herself in Carlisle’s study staring at Aro’s portrait two weeks after that conversation. Well, the Volturi portrait with Carlisle in the background, but she wasn’t focused on anyone else. She looked at the red eyes that weren’t captured just right, at the long black hair pulled back at the neck. At the way he stood at the rail dressed in something other than black. For a painting, it wasn’t bad. But the artist didn’t seem to capture him just right, and something was missing from him that she couldn’t put a finger on.

“Hello.”

Bella startled, then laughed a bit at herself as she half turned toward Bree.

“Hi.” She said, her hand still fiddling with the crest at her chest.

Bree glanced about the room. “I thought Alice and you were going to do something.” She said shyly, shifting from side to side.

“Yeah,” Bella gestured toward where Alice’s room was. “She’s changing, or deciding on something. Really, I think she just wanted to make me wander in here so I could look at this.” She pointed to the painting with one hand. 

Bree came up beside her, and Bella noted she wasn’t breathing, or even trying to make it look like she was.

“He looks so mean there.” Bree commented. “He was nice to me, but in the painting he looks really mean.”

“He can be.” Bella replied. “He’s told me as much.”

Bree looked at her a long time. “You’re supposed to be one of us soon, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Bella nodded, trying to smile kindly. “Then you won’t have to worry about killing me, right?” 

Bree grinned. “I’m getting better, I think. Esme thinks I was meant to be a sort of natural for animal blood. Just… I had a bad start. I like deer.”

Bella smiled, a more real one this time, happy to see this girl who was barely more than a kid start to find her way. 

“Carlisle says if I can handle being around humans next month, I might be able to go to school again, maybe finish this time. I ran away before… this.”

“Aro said you had a hard life.”

“How did he do that?” Bree asked. “Edward says he reads minds by touching you?”

“That’s what they say. No one’s been able to read me.” Bella shrugged.

“Lucky.” Bree groaned. “I like Edward, he seems nice, but I hate when he answers a question I haven’t asked out loud. And I hate that he knows that and does it anyway. Is that what it’s like to have a brother?”

“I don’t know,” Bella shook her head as she chuckled. “Emmett’s the closest thing I’ve had to a brother, so your guess is as good as mine.” 

Bree didn’t blink, simply staring at Bella as her gentle laugh petered off.

A moment later, Bree sharply turned her head toward the woods. “A heartbeat.” She said and was gone in a flash.

Without thinking of the fact that a newborn was now chasing after the sound of a heartbeat, and what that might mean, Bella moved as quickly as she could down the stairs. Edward appeared at the bottom before she could make it the rest of the way, seeming to wait for her. 

“It’s Jacob.” He frowned as he seemed to listen, and that only made Bella go to the patio faster, standing with the rest of the Cullens just as Jacob came out of the woods as a human.

“Hey,” he called up at the lot of them, then smiling when he saw Bella. “Thought you were supposed to be shopping?”

“She’s been waiting on me.” Alice replied, then to Bella, “Sorry.”

“I’m not complaining.” She smirked back.

“What is it, Jacob?” Carlisle asked.

Jacob became serious a moment. “Do you guys know of a blonde with yellow eyes?” He asked.

“We have cousins from Denali,” Edward replied. “Three of them.”

“One of them was here,” Jacob replied.

Edward frowned. “Irina.” 

“Is she still nearby?” Carlisle asked.

Jacob shook his head. “I was out for a run around, caught her smell, went to investigate. We got a good look at each other, but she seemed far less friendly to me than I was to her. She turned and left pretty fast.”

“Didn’t you call the Denalis to see if they would help with the Newborns?” Edward asked.

“I had thought to,” Carlisle nodded. “But with Aro here, given their history with Volturi, I thought it best not to. Alice?”

Alice frowned, focusing. “She’s not decided what to do.”

“I should call Eleazer, ask him to hear us out,” Carlisle said with a weariness Bella rarely heard. “Perhaps he can explain the truce we have with the wolves.”

“What if she goes to the Volturi?” Rosalie asked nervously.

“Aro knows.” Bella reminded them. “He and Jake got along.”

“Well,” Jacob said, purposely being stubborn.

“Oh shut up, you weren’t bosom buddies, but you didn’t hate each other any more than you naturally had to.”

“Well,” He said again, a bit of a grin this time that had Bella rolling her eyes.

“Bella,” Carlisle said gently, “while Aro might have allowed the truce-”

“Caius wouldn’t.” She interrupted with a nod. “And he’d go for all your heads if he knew about it because he was attacked by werewolves centuries ago. But they aren’t children of the moon, they’re shapeshifters. And all it would take is Marcus siding with Aro and nothing more would be said of it.” She gestured about, realizing only after that all the Cullens but Alice was looking at Bella with varying degrees of surprise. “What? I asked he told me. Politics were a very hot topic one day.”

Emmett snickered, but Rosalie smacked him before he could make any sort of lewd comment.

“Better we attempt to keep the peace for now,” Carlisle said. “Irina may need some time to come to terms with our alliance, but I doubt she’d go running to the Volturi. We’re family.”

“Well, give me a heads up,” Jacob said, his eyes constantly darting between Carlisle and Bree. “If your family comes to town, let me know so the pack doesn’t try to destroy them. Our list of no-kills for vampires is already higher than we’d have liked, but….”

“Thank you, Jacob,” Carlisle said with a smile and a nod.

Jacob looked at Bree with a frown one last time before turning into the woods and taking off.

~*~

Bella was trying to read. Desperately. 

But, well, her phone was right there next to her. Taunting her. She still had some international time left. Not much, not enough, but…

She tore her eyes away from it and forced them to the page. 

_You’re being ridiculous. You’re being an idiot._

She’d written him a letter the day after they spoke, and another one after seeing the portrait in the Cullens’ house. She had no idea if he got the first if he’d ever get them. But a phone call in the first week? Two letters? Nope, she needed some distance.

“What,” Charlie nearly spat, “Is he doing here?”

Bella became irrationally excited for one brief second before her commonsense kicked in and she reigned herself in.

She looked out the window, seeing Edward coming up the drive from his Volvo, and frowned.

“I really don’t know.”

She got up to answer the door, arriving a second before he rang the doorbell.

When she opened it, Edward smiled shyly. “I thought I’d come see if you wanted to do something. I hadn’t seen much of you lately.”

“Well, been busy.” She said as she crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. “What did you have in mind?”

“A drive?” Edward offered with a shrug. “I just…” He glanced around as if there was someone who could possibly hear him. “I need to get away from Bree for a bit.”

Bella couldn’t help but smirk a little at that before she relaxed. Leaning back, she caught Charlie’s eye.

He rolled his. “Be back by dinner.”

“You know, I’m going to be at mom’s in, like, two weeks.” She reminded him as she headed into the living room to grab her phone off the end table.

“Yep, and until then - especially when you take off with a guy who left you a mess twice - I expect you home by a certain time,” Charlie replied as she passed by.

“Right,” She said, grabbing her jacket off the hook. “See you when I get back.” She called as she shrugged on her jacket and stepped outside with Edward. 

She was actually abundantly thankful he didn’t try to be chivalrous and open her door for her. They got in roughly at the same time, and as she buckled, Edward started the car and backed out.

“Thank you,” he said, “for spending time with me. It’s not just Bree, Alice has been having the strangest lines of thoughts lately. Entire works of Dickens, which is a bit better than Shakespeare, but still… difficult.”

“So you wanted to spend time with me because you can’t hear my thoughts, I’m guessing?” She asked, reaching up and fiddling with her pendant.

Edward glanced at it. “Yeah,” He said. “Mostly. I just realize that the last time I spent any time with you was….”

“Yeah,” She said. “Suppose it was.”

They drove in silence for a bit, and Bella had to admit it was actually sort of nice. It was a beat later that she realized where he was going, and Bella sighed heavily, regret starting to well within her.

“How’s Aro?” Edward asked, making Bella furrowed her brow and look at him askance.

They were going to the meadow, that much was really obvious. And yet….

“Last I talked to him he was… alright.” She said, dropping her pendent and rubbing at the back of her neck, feeling the slightly shorter hairs in one spot and fighting down a blush.”

“Just alright?” Edward asked.

“Yeah,” she dropped her hands in her lap. “I haven’t talked to him in a few weeks. The long-distance charges would be… but when I did, he sounded like he’d been having a hard time. He just said it wasn’t the most pleasant.”

Edward nodded as he pulled up to that small little space where he could park the car before their walk.

Bella got out as he did, and started to follow him along the path.

“Do you remember if it was before Irina saw Jake or after?” He asked as they started their hike.

“Before,” She said confidently. “Why? You think she went to him?”

“I really don’t know,” Edward said with a shake of his head. “The Denalis don’t have a good history with Volturi.”

“Because their mother had to be executed.” Bella nodded, glancing at Edward and noting his surprise. “What do you all think Aro and I did when we were alone all that time?” She asked with an exasperated chuckle.

“I tried not to think about it too much,” Edward admitted with a self-deprecating grin.

“He told me about Sasha. It was one of his regrets, that he had to do that to her. Because of the immortal child.”

Edward nodded, more somber. “None of the sisters could ever understand why their mother would do that.”

“Were you hoping he mentioned her? When we talked?” Bella asked as she maneuvered around a rock.

“Yeah, but that’s not the reason I wanted to talk,” Edward assured. “It was a curiosity. Where you talked to Aro.”

Bella nodded, bracing herself against a tree, supporting herself a moment as they headed up.

“Do you want to talk about him?” Edward offered.

“No,” Bella shook her head. “I’m trying really hard not to think about him, actually.”

“Why?” Edward asked, a little too hopeful.

Bella glanced at him and felt a little sorry for him. “It makes me miss him more.” She confessed. 

They went a bit further.

“Bree thinks your weird.” He said with a touch of humor in his tone. “The fact that I can’t hear you? That Aro couldn’t? She thinks that’s weird. Which is sort of funny because you’d think she would find it stranger that I can listen in on her. She’s… very much a teenager of the times. Her thoughts… they tend to lean toward those from school. Though I have to admit she’s pretty stable for a newborn.”

“She said she likes deer.”

Edward snickered. “Yeah.”

They arrived at the meadow, and Bella looked at the landscape, seeing it in full bloom. It felt weird, like the last time she’d been there with Edward had been years ago, that a whole lifetime had passed since then. 

“This is where Laurent found me.” She confessed, moving forward until she stood roughly where she collapsed. “I was beginning to think I was crazy because no one really talked about you guys when you left. I thought, maybe if I came here, proved everything was real, I’d be alright.” She let out a quiet “ha” before continuing. “Jacob and the pack found me before he could bite. And the funny thing is, I was alright after them. Not totally, but enough.”

“I’m sorry,” Edward said, coming up beside her. “I’m sorry I made us leave like that.”

“You never explained the real reason.” Bella reminded him.

“I just wanted you to have a normal, human life,” Edward replied.

Bella nodded, not satisfied, but realizing there really wouldn’t ever be an answer she would be satisfied with.

She looked around the meadow, taking in the view now that it was back to life, and reached for her pendant again. 

“Are you going to stay in Italy?” He asked her softly. “After you’re changed?”

“Probably.” She said. _Yes_ , her mind stated firmly. “I can’t see why I wouldn’t.”

“Because of that?” Edward asked, gesturing to the V in her hand. 

Bella opened her hand and looked down at it. “Because of who gave it to me.” She said, meeting Edward’s golden eyes. “Stop trying.” She said gently. “I loved you once. And maybe there’s a part of me that still does, but I don’t want to be with you. And I haven’t since I went to save you in Volterra. We’re over. Very much over, and we have been since you left me in the woods in September. If you had come back in October, November, December? I would have taken you back without question.”

“But after?” Edward asked.

Bella sighed. “After… there was Jake.”

He nodded in understanding, taking Bella’s hands in his and stepping closer. Bella tensed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stop him should Edward try something. But all he did was press his forehead to hers, closed his eyes.

“It was the worst decision I ever made, thinking leaving you was the best for both of us. To see you standing here, unaffected, to hear you speak of someone else that…. I had hope. When you told Aro you were glad he saved me, I had hope that maybe I could win your heart again. And I think I’ll still hope for a very long time because I don’t think I can stop loving you. But I won’t stop you going to Italy. I won’t try and make you see him as something evil, but I don’t think he’s worthy of you.”

She leaned away to peer up at him, brow furrowed.

“I love you.” He said. “But I’m letting you go.”

Bella closed her eyes and sighed. “Thank you.” She said. 

He shook his head. “What for?”

“For finally hearing what I’ve been saying for months.”

Edward let go of her hands, stepping back, looking around the meadow.

“It’s not the same anymore.” He said. “But then again, neither are we.”

“Maybe you can take Bree here,” Bella suggested, and at the look of horror on Edward’s face, she threw her head back and laughed.

~AB~

“ _Do you ever get bored?_ ”

He’d been amused when Bella had asked, but now Aro was very much not amused at all. Because now he was painfully aware that he _was_ bored. It had come up from time to time over the centuries, a realization that he wasn’t being stimulated in any way, and he would go find something to do. It was a human condition, he had thought, that one would dwell on having nothing to do.

Yet there he was, looking at piles of books on a table, all of them having been read in the past at some point, and he found nothing appealed. 

The doors opened, and he turned his attention to the secretary as she walked in. She was still rather nervous, the poor thing. She had a very obvious crush on Demetri which amused Felix to no end, and Aro had glanced at the men at the other side of the throne room, catching the latter’s smirk and the former’s eye roll. The secretary barely pulled her eyes away from Demetri when Aro approached her.

“Yes, my dear?” He asked her, appearing as genial as possible. 

She cleared her throat. “You have mail.” She said, handing Aro the envelope.

Curious, he looked down at the envelope and beamed when he saw the clumsy yet elegant script, the return address. 

“How delightful.” He said as he took the envelope from the young woman. His eyes fell on the postmark, and he stiffened. It had been mailed over three weeks ago, the day after his first phone call with Bella. They had only managed one other since a terribly brief conversation compared to the last. Where Bella explained why she hadn’t called more often, told her about Edward’s supposed surrender in his meadow, and the new but still shaky amicable relationship they started now that she knew he could accept what wasn’t to be. 

She’d never mentioned a letter, though she had if mail ever went to the castle. He had assumed she’d asked for herself, but now he knew better. 

“When do you collect the mail?” He asked casually, but every vampire in the room was suddenly on alert.

“I-I collect it every few days.” She replied, suddenly uncertain, eyes darting around at everyone.

“Every few days?” Aro asked, tucking the letter inside his jacket. 

“Well,” She swallowed, her heart beginning to beat fast and hard. “There usually isn’t all that much. It’s so rare to find any. I thought I would save time, focus on other tasks.”

Aro smiled at her. “Of course.” He said, nodding in understanding. “But, you see it’s part of your daily tasks. You’re supposed to check it every day in case something important comes in. Like this letter,” He said, pressing his hand against his chest, over his left side where the letter was kept safe. “It was a bit unexpected, you see. And there’s no telling what would be inside. It could be time-sensitive, you see.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “I won’t make that mistake again.” 

“You certainly won’t.” He said with a smile that was all glistening teeth.

It would have been the last thing she’d have seen before her blood was filling his mouth. She wasn’t the most appetizing, but there was no need to let blood go to waste. There were enough stray thoughts from humans in the past that lamented eating because they were bored, he had the slightest idea of what they meant by that now as the last of the touch-too salty liquid ran down his throat.

Drained dry, he dropped the corpse to the ground, then took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed the corners of his mouth where he felt either venom or blood linger. 

“Take care of that,” He gestured to their former secretary. “And find someone more competent this time.” 

He turned to where his brothers had lingered by the table, Marcus appearing as indifferent than ever, Caius with an amused grin.

“You couldn’t have let Felix have the honor?” Caius asked Aro when he returned to the books spread out before them.

“Felix didn’t care either way and never has.” Aro retorted, making a quick show of looking through what was on offer before sighing. “I find nothing entertaining here. I’ll be in my study.”

“Yes,” Caius said thoughtfully. “Perhaps I shall pay a visit to my wife. It’s been a while.” He was gone in a flash, and Aro stared after him.

“A while.” He repeated, shaking his head. “Had he been to see her once while I was away?”

“You already know the answer,” Marcus replied, and the two exchanged a look. “Go read your missive from your mate.”

“I’m sorry.” Aro barely whispered, the words no more than a breath.

“You’ve apologized. Countless times over the millennia. And I have accepted.” Marcus replied only a little louder.

“But now I have the faintest understanding of what it’s done to you. Which is why I can’t understand….”

“Mates are different for everyone,” Marcus replied in a rather bored tone. “They meet an exact need we all have. Caius doesn’t think like you or I. He never has. It’s why we had him join us.”

Aro nodded, put a hand on Marcus’ arm for a moment, then left the throne room.

His private study was one of the highest points in the castle. A window allowed the near-constant Italian sun to shine through, providing unnecessary light throughout the day, and a wonderful view of the stars at night. Hundreds of thousands of books lined the walls, the topics varied, all kept in near pristine condition. Sculptures dotted the floor, paintings filled in spaces on the walls that a shelf could not, and lined the stairwell that wrapped its way up to his rarely used bedchamber. 

In the strongest point of sunlight was a desk, a grand and ancient thing that belonged to a French king before his unfortunate demise. A chair that was a gift from an emperor in hopes that Aro would make him immortal. He did not, but it was only because the foolish mortal thought himself impervious to Aro’s gift, and did not believe the Volturi leader could see the emperor’s desire to conquer the vampire world.

He did not go there, however. Instead, Aro chose a wonderful leather chair from only about a century ago. The very chair he could imagine Isabella sitting in, reading, the sunlight catching her new diamond skin and setting off facets of light. 

Settled, he withdrew the envelope from within his jacket and delicately opened the missive.

Instantly he was flooded with her scent, thick and heavy if not a touch old. Venom pooled in his mouth, but it was easy to dismiss with fresh blood in his veins. He stuck his fingers inside the envelope and touched silk-soft strands. Carefully, he withdrew a lock of her deep brown hair, tied with string. Aro brought it to his nose and smiled, breathing in the scent he missed so dearly. Setting the lock of hair carefully aside, he took out the letter.

_To my terribly ancient one,_

_I had been reading this morning and was reminded of an old practice. I suppose for you it’s pretty modern. Appreciate it, because I’m under the impression that in about eight weeks I will forever have a small bit of hair at the back of my neck shorter than all the rest. But the car still sort of smells like you, and if I get desperate they have some pretty great air fresheners that will do for a bit. I didn’t have anything to give you when you left, now you have something._

_I just really hope the postal service doesn’t report me for sending hair in the mail. It’s probably pretty weird, they probably think I’m some sort of creepy stalker now. I’d say it’s a good thing my dad’s a cop, seeing as he could get me out of the charges if there were any, but that might be worse. I can’t imagine trying to explain to Charlie why I sent a clipping of my hair to a guy he knows only as Esme’s brother who I supposedly haven’t had much interaction with._

_It’s going to be a really long two months. I hate it. I hate that I miss you. But it’s also kind of nice. Because I haven’t felt like my world has imploded like when the Cullens left. I ache, and I can’t think about it too long, but it’s not weighing me down. I just sort of carry it with me, knowing it’s not long until we’re together again._

_Now I’m starting to sound like a pining maiden or something. I’m closing off the letter now._

_I miss you._

_Yours,_

_Bella._

” _E io sono tuo, amore mio. Io sono tua.”_ ** He said to himself, running his fingers over the paper. He picked up the lock of hair, running it against his lips, breathing it in, and imaging that wonderful day to come until the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and the moon began to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *We are soulmates, my darling. I can't imagine wanting anything that would make you unhappy.  
> **And I am yours, my love. I am yours.
> 
> I give to you all this slightly longer than normal chapter as my way of apologizing in advance if it takes me a bit to get the next one out. I know I keep saying I won't update frequently, and I won't necessarily. I just happen to carve our some writing time the last day or two, and thought I would give you this in case that doesn't happen again soon.  
> Thanks again for all the support the fic's getting! Until next time


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's vampire gore in this one, but nothing overly descriptive.

_My Dearest Dinosaur._

Aro looked at the letter and pondered how long it took Bella to come up with these teasing greetings. He still had her first letter to her “terribly ancient one”, and now this one came just two days later. Or, at least, he had it two days after the first. Who knew how long the first one had been sitting around waiting to be collected.

Which reminded him that they had interviews for a new secretary in a short while. 

There was no lock of hair in this letter, nor any sort of momento from Bella except her words on paper. It was enough, it would have to be for at least another four weeks.

_I went to the Cullens today. It’s been the first time since the battle. Bree’s doing good, in case you need to know that. She was actually alone with me in Carlisle’s study. She was pretty calm, and I hope I’m as level headed as she is as a newborn. I didn’t see the others to know, of course. Given how long Riley had been missing, he was at the tail end of the newborn phase, so I don’t think that’s a good indicator. But I hope I have Bree’s calm. Suppose we’ll know soon._

_We started talking because I was looking at the painting Carlisle has in his study. You were here, I’m sure you’ve seen it during your stay. I forgot that it showed you in white. I didn’t think that was a color you ever wore. Then again, you were around when togas were in fashion. Do you keep all those clothes from years gone by? Is there a vault in the castle that’s essentially just a wardrobe?_

_The painting didn’t get you quite right, but I might be a bit biased._

_I finalized plans with my mom. Jake and I are leaving the second week of August, and he’s going to stay for a week. Maybe two if he can convince his dad it will be alright. I’m going to stay with mom until I catch my flight to Italy. Not entirely sure how I’m going to get to Volterra, but I’ll figure it out as I go._

_Which, oddly, reminds me that one of the Denalis had been near Forks. I guess she saw Jake and took off. Carlisle was going to talk to someone in their coven, try to explain it all to her. Hopefully, she doesn’t get too upset with them. There was talk of her going to see you guys there, but no one was sure she would._

Irina. It could pose a problem if she decides to back-track, warn the Cullens of the werewolves, and have the earnest Carlisle tell her of the truce. It’s no doubt she’d have likely figured out the possibility that her Laurent had encountered the pack and did not survive. It was something to bear in mind should she return to them.

_Alice took me shopping. She had some_ interesting _ideas for things I would need for Italy, before and after my change. Is there something you’re planning? Given what Alice kept trying to buy for me I’m looking forward to it if you are._

Aro smirked to himself, wondering exactly how much of his plans for Bella Alice had seen. It had been an idea that planted itself in the back of his mind since that first kiss out in the woods late at night and had grown more with each moment spent in Bella’s company. Should she be amiable, which by her words she’d likely be, he had plans for her indeed.

_But there’s also some post-change outfits, certain ones she really wants me to wear as some sort of debut piece. Only one isn’t black, and while I want to wear it simply because of that, it’s also a dress. I don’t imagine I’ll suddenly find myself with different tastes in fashion, so we shall see._

_I miss you, but it won’t be long now. And I’ll call you again next month sometime._

_Yours,_

_Bella_

He’d heard the vampire coming up the stairs before the knock on his study door, but Aro appreciated the courtesy nonetheless.

“Master?” Demitri said from the open doorway. “They’re here.” 

Aro tucked this new letter away, then retreated downstairs to listen in to the interviews for their newest secretary.

~AB~

“You have everything?” Alice asked, her eyes saying she meant a heck of a lot more than merely Bella’s typical things required for traveling.

Blushing, Bella looked around her, noting Jacob frowning and Edward looking positively ill before she turned to Alice. “Yes. Mostly.”

“Mostly!?” Alice half-shouted.

“Well, there were some things that just weren’t practical. And were complicated. Frankly, I don’t think it was really necessary.” Bella said with a shrug, shifting about. Her luggage had already been checked, as had Jacob’s, so it was hardly like Alice could go through it now and see what pieced Bella deemed worthy of bringing.

That had been the most difficult part of packing. While momentos from her brief life in Forks had been relatively easy to sort through, given there weren’t many, packing clothing was a different story. Bella had three weeks with her mom. Florida heat wasn’t the place for sweaters, and she knew she’d be a vampire before Italy grew cold. She didn’t even know if she would see a full day in Italy before she began her change. 

Leaving behind all of her warmer pieces might make Charlie suspicious, so she did have a separate case just for those. But she also felt there had to be at least a small degree of refinement to them. She doubted running about the castle in flannel and worn down denim was something she could get away with, and Alice’s practical choices helped Bella build a wardrobe she could still be herself in. But the lingerie? The lacy scraps of fabric that seemed too small to be anything but something found tossed about on their grandmother’s dining table? It had been a debate to take them with her or leave them behind where Charlie might find them one day when he eventually cleared her room for something else. And knowing that his daughter had been eighteen when those things were left behind? 

In the end, she took only the things that made sense, even if she wasn’t sure she’d really need them in her second life. The rest, well… she just really hoped Charlie would never, ever open the bag from the lingerie shop Bella stuffed in the back of the closet.

Alice didn’t look amused at all, which likely meant Bella would be receiving a very interesting package in Volterra at some point in the future.

“Can you stop thinking about them, please?” Edward asked, his face twisted up in pain. “I really… considering who would see them.”

“No one,” Bella said firmly, her face too warm from the intensity of the blush. “No one will ever see me in them, because I’m not going to wear them.”

“I don’t want to know,” Jacob said, shaking his head and looking around.

“We have to go,” Bella told the vampires, looking between them both.

“Just a few more minutes,” Alice promised. “You have plenty of time. You’ll breeze through security, and then you’ll find you still have way too much time to wait before your plane leaves for Florida.” Alice assured.

Before Bella could protest, she spotted why Alice kept holding them back from boarding.

Carlisle and Esme weaved through the crowd, smiling and waving when Bella had spotted them.

Charlie had said his goodbyes at the house before Alice came to pick up her and Jacob under the guise that she was departing for California around the same time. He had to work as it was, and had said himself it would be harder to drive her there and see her off. She’d promised to call when they landed, and that had been that. But Bella hadn’t seen much of Carlisle or Esme since she was last to their home a couple of weeks back, just after the meadow with Edward.

When they were within normal, human hearing range, Esme said, “You have to come see us after.” She parted from Carlisle and came over to embrace Bella. 

Bella smiled, “As soon as I can.” She promised as Esme stepped back.

“We have something for you,” Carlisle said. “We’d have given it to you sooner, but it took longer than expected.” He reached in his pocket and took out a long, velvet box.

Bella took it shyly, glancing at the Cullens before opening it. And when she did, she promptly teared up.

Inside was a thick yet elegant, silver-toned chain bracelet. Attached to one of the links was a charm of the Cullen crest.

“I know where your heart will keep you,” Carlisle said kindly. “But we wanted you to know that regardless, you’re family. You’re one of us, a Cullen, even if it’s only in spirit.”

Bella’s heart constricted and found it’s way up into her throat. Closing her eyes, trying to keep herself from crying, she stepped up to Carlisle and hugged him. She didn’t have any words for it, especially not after what had happened not quite a year ago. 

She let go, stepping back and swiping at her eyes. Bella then took the bracelet out of the box, handing the latter to Alice as she looped the chain around the same wrist Jacob’s handmade one rested.

“Here,” Esme offered, fastening the bracelet infinitely faster than Bella ever would have.

She touched the crest where it rested on her rest, then skimmed over to the wolf. “I’m carrying all my favorite supernatural people with me.” She said very quietly before she touched her hand to her pendant. “Thank you.” She finally managed to say.

“Now you should go,” Alice said, offering Bella a hug. To everyone’s surprise, she moved to hug Jacob as well, who accepted it with a confused sort of acceptance that he clearly didn’t decide for himself.

Edward stepped toward Bella, opening his arms. “I’ll come see you in Italy.” He said as they hugged awkwardly.

“If you want.” She cautioned, hoping that the easy sort of camaraderie they formed in the last couple of weeks wasn’t about to go up in smoke.

A chorus of farewells and Bella and Jacob headed through security.

On the other side, the pair found their gate and settled in, still forty-five minutes before their plane would board.

“I’m going to call dad, let him know we’re just waiting,” Jacob said, a touch of nerves to his voice that he was trying his best to hide. 

“I’ll be here.” Bella nodded, placing her small carry-on on her lap, watching him get up and head just outside of the waiting area.

With a sigh, she reached into her pocket and took out her own cell phone. Dialed a number, making a call.

And was greeted by what she was fairly certain was a bunch of screams.

“Isabella?” Aro asked in confusion, the screaming suddenly gone.

She blinked and frowned. “Did… was that…?”

“It was nothing.” Aro dismissed. “Merely… well… dinner.”

“Right. Bad timing.” Bella said, suddenly feeling painfully awkward. “You can-”

“It’s fine. I suppose you could say it was the dessert course.” Aro assured. “But from those small missives you sent me electronically about twelve hours ago, you should be on your way to see your mother right now.” There was a lilt of concern to his tone.

“Haven’t gotten on the plane yet.” She said, looking down at her bracelets, her arm resting on the bag in her lap. “The Cullens, most of them, came to see me off.”

“You’re sad.” He said, understanding. “ _Mia cara_ , you have eternity before you. You shall see them again, I assure it.”

“I know.” She said. “But they gave me their crest, and had a whole speech about me being a Cullen.”

“Because you are,” Aro replied. “They brought you into our world, even if they are not the ones to change you. You will be Swan by name, a Cullen in spirit, and Volturi by heart.”

She snorted, “Carlisle said I was Cullen in spirit. I’d almost think you two planned it out.”

“We’re just both simply very wise.”

“Glad you didn’t say ‘beyond my years’.”

“You’re always eager to point out how utterly ancient I am. I’d rather not give you fuel for the fire. In a few weeks, I’m sure I’ll have eternity to hear about it. And given I will always be four thousand years older than you.”

“I’ll try not to make you hear how utterly decrepit you are in comparison. And I’m guessing no one is going to tease you about your much younger lover.” Bella smirked, feeling eyes on her and glancing up to see a woman looking at her with deep concern. 

“Only you, _mia amata.”_ He replied.

There was suddenly a muted scream in the background, and the shuffling of something, footsteps.

“Master,” Someone said.

“Ah,” Aro said awkwardly, and it sounded like he was inhaling, breathing something deeply. “Thank you, Felix. Ah…. Isabella.”

“Go… yeah. That.” She said, shifting about in her seat and reminding herself that the reality of vampirism isn’t pleasant. Nameless and faceless. And far across the ocean. “Talk to you soon.”

“Until then,” Aro said with all the affection he didn’t say, and then the line went dead.

“How’s Dracula?” Jacob said as he fell in the seat next to her.

Bella whacked him on the chest. “Don’t. Not… don’t.” She warned.

Jacob glanced over, probably spotting the woman from earlier, and nodded. 

“Paul was still there. Sorta glad I’m getting some space after he imprinted on Rachel. He’s there all the damn time now.”

Bella wanted to point out that they were being heavily eavesdropped on, but figured as long as Jacob was comfortable talking about it, it must be relatively okay.

“Is he at least better about the anger thing? Sam doesn’t seem nearly as bad as Paul, and, well….”

“He’s been getting it under control. He’s had no choice, I told him he had to.” Jacob said firmly. “I can’t stop the connection, I have no control over that part. But if he hurts my sister, there will be hell to pay. And he knows he can’t hide it from me.”

“I know it made me uneasy, seeing him there last week. Your dad seemed….”

“He… gets that it’s good for the whole… yeah. But, well, he doesn’t like Paul much. Rachel still isn’t super sure about it all, either. She asked if I had imprinted on anyone, think she was rather glad I didn’t yet.”

“Yet.” Bella grinned. “I like that.” 

After a pause, Jacob asked, “what do you think of the newest Cullen?”

She glanced at her bracelet. “Bit of a klutz, and a bit slow to start, but not bad for being what she is.” She grinned, chuckling when Jacob rolled his eyes and elbowed her playfully.

“I meant Bree. What do you think of her?”

“I don’t know.” Bella shrugged, shaking her head. “I haven’t really talked to her much. Edward finds her grating, but she’s fifteen, a couple years younger than he is.”

Jacob snickered but kept his mouth shut, the woman still looking at them from the corner of her eye.

“She’s adjusting. Hoping to start school. It does mean the Cullens will still be around another three years, at least.” 

“Yeah,” Jacob said a touch uneasily. “Means there will likely be more phases. So Edward doesn’t like her? Pity that, bet he was hoping….”

“Well, until we talked a couple weeks back, he was hoping I was going to ditch Aro for him. Plus, Bree admitted she finds him annoying, too. They’re very much siblings. Though, you know what she refers to _you_ as?” Bella smirked as Jacob arched a brow.

“I’ve seen her once.” He said skeptically.

“Doesn’t stop you from being the ‘stinky cute one.’” Bella grinned.

Jacob scoffed. “I smell fine, it’s them that stink.”

“I can’t tell,” Bella shrugged. “You all smell like trees and plants to me.”

“What’s Dracula, then? Olive Oil? Grapes?”

“Cypress.” She replied as the flight attendant called the first-class borders. “That’s us,” She said, patting his leg.

Jacob’s eyes went wide. “What, really?” He asked as they stood up.

“I don’t think the Cullens know how to do commercial unless desperate,” Bella said as she shouldered her bag.

“Not surprising, considering,” Jacob grumbled.

“Aro’s got his own jet.” 

“And that’s why you chose him over Cullen.” Jacob teased, and Bella got one last look at the woman who had been listening.

The poor thing seemed to think they’d lost their minds, eyes wide as she seemed to absently shake her head at them.

Tickets scanned and IDs checked, Bella led Jacob down the gangplank to the plane. They were directed to their seats, and once settled in, she looked over to see him puffing out a breath of air, leg twitching.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Used to my feet on the ground is all,” Jacob replied. 

“Close your eyes, try and sleep or let your mind wander. It’s not so bad when you relax.” And it’s only a few hours.

Jacob nodded and closed his eyes, but Bella still reached over and took his hand, holding on to it until they were up in the air, and Jacob seemed to actually fall asleep.

~*~

It took Renee three days of them being there before she finally managed to get Bella on her own. Phil and Jacob were out on the sand, tossing a baseball back and forth with Jacob using an extra glove. Renee had set up the loungers on the deck facing the beach. 

It was glorious, the sun heating her skin, the warmth. The scent of sand and salt on the breeze. Bella was basking in it, momentarily lamenting that she wouldn’t have this in a month or so. If she were to tan by some small miracle, would it carry over? Would she be just a touch more than pale? Probably note, but still, no harm in trying.

“Jacob seems really nice,” Renee said, cutting through the sleepy fog Bella had been finding herself lulled into.

“He is.” She replied, “But it’s not like you’re thinking. He’s just my best friend, and he’s the one I likely won’t see as much of after I go to school.” Bella opened her eyes and found her mother looking at her as if sizing her up.

“You and Edward never worked things out?” She asked.

“Depends on what you say by ‘work out’,” Bella shrugged. “He wasn’t for me. I fell fast and hard, and he did too. But we just weren’t right for each other.”

Renee hummed. “I’m glad you figured that out early.” She confessed, reaching for Bella’s hand and clasping it in hers. “I didn’t want to say it, but you and Edward reminded me a little of your father and I. Young, in love. I had a lot of big dreams, you knew that. And your dad… he was never going to leave that town, not for anything. I was worried you’d make the same mistakes I did: give everything up for a boy.”

“I almost did,” She admitted. “But Jake helped me get over him.”

“Which is why I’m surprised you’re just friends,” Renee said with a smirk to her one. “Or is there a ‘more than’ on the horizon? Despite school.”

“No,” Bella said firmly, shaking her head. “Actually, between us, I’m already seeing someone.”

Renee perked up. “Really? Your dad didn’t mention that.”

“Because dad doesn’t know,” Bella replied, and sort of hated how proud her mother looked. “It’s not like that, it’s not a teenage rebellion thing. It’s… he’s older. And we’ll be in Italy together.”

“He goes to the school?” Renee asked.

Bella could see a couple of options. She could say no, but that might be weird, her knowing a random older man that would be in Italy with her at the same time. She could say it was a professor, just not one that was teaching her. But Renee might either say it was very romantic or very risky.

“He’s an older student, yeah.” She replied. “Been there for what seems like forever. We, um, met when I did my interview for there. He’s been great, answers all the questions I’ve had. Made me decide to accept the offer in the end.”

“What’s he like?” Renee asked. “What’s his name? What’s he study.”

“He’s greek. And he’s a very, very old soul. Smart, and… you know, I don’t really want to talk about him right now.” She said, not wanting to give her mom anything more to go on, and also knowing she wouldn’t stop talking if she did. The risk of saying too much was always possible, and the last thing Bella wanted was to slip up and say something damning.

Renee nodded in understanding.

“Well, we could talk about me.” She said slyly. “And one of the reasons I’m really sad you don’t expect to be coming back for the holidays any time soon.”

“Oh?” Bella asked, shifting to see her mom better.

Renee grinned. “You’re not going to meet your baby brother or sister.”

Bella’s eyes went wide. “Wow. Mom, that’s… great.”

“Isn’t it!” Renee gushed. “I know I didn’t always do the best for you, and I’m sorry that this one will get to have two parents all the time, but….”

“No, mom, it’s great,” Bella assured, despite the fact that she couldn’t possibly imagine her mom with a baby all over again.

But there would be Phil this time. And Renee was far more settled than she had been when Bella was a baby herself. Happier.

“Bit weird, though, right? If your children are closer in age to your sibling than you are?” Renee asked with a bit of a scrunched face.

“I’m not having kids,” Bella said firmly. “And I’m not getting married.”

“Oh, you say that now.” Renee started.

“No, I mean, I’m not. I don’t want them. And I don’t want to get married. Aro knows that.”

“Aro!” Renee perked up. “I get to know his name. Is a bit unusual, isn’t it.”

Bella wanted to smack herself before burying her head in the sand and only coming back out when it was time to leave.

“Don’t tell dad. Please, just… don’t say anything.”

“I won’t,” Renee promised. “But if you _do_ get married.”

“Not. Ever. So, yeah.”

They were quiet for a while, Jacob’s laugh carrying over with the thud of the ball hitting the gloves, and Phil’s voice but not the words he said. 

“Are you going to be happy?” Renee asked. 

“Yes,” Bella replied without hesitation, hand reaching for her necklace. “I am.”

“Good,” Renee said. “That said, I have a graduation present for you. Something you can take with you to Italy, maybe snuggle under with Aro.” She said, and Bella scoffed as Renee got up to dart inside. 

The very idea of Aro snuggling was a bit ridiculous. Even after that single night when she asked him to stay after… well, she wouldn’t call it snuggling, really. Do vampires properly snuggle?

Renee returned, and Bella dropped the pendant back on her chest to reach for the box her mom. She opened it, seeing the quilt made of all their old trip t-shirts from their travels prior to her moving back with Charlie. 

And while Bella smiled and reminisced, endured a ribbing that Renee had hoped Bella could have added to it with her own children, she basked in the significance of it. 

Eventually, it was possible that the quilt would deteriorate, turn to dust like some things do with time. But for at least a while she would have a piece of her human history to carry with her. A reminder of where she came from. Maybe she wouldn’t remember any of these trips on the other side, but she would remember her mom and what this had meant to her.

It was all so bittersweet.

~AB~

He’d spotted them heading toward the parking garage of the castle, and couldn’t help but stop them.

“And where are you two off to this evening?” Aro asked Felix and Demetri. 

They bowed their heads in unison. “Master,” the greeted as one before Felix replied, “We’re going to head into Rome for a hunt.”

“Really?” Aro asked. “A night out for the pair of you?”

“Heidi plans to join us,” Demetri told him. “You’d be welcome to as well, Master.”

He almost immediately declined. It wasn’t something done, hunting with the guard. Then again, it wasn’t really done for the Volturi rulers to hunt period, not unless necessary because of a mission. Yet he had enjoyed the rush of it, the running about, finding someone secluded while he had been away. Stalking about, finding someone, pouncing, following the instincts that came naturally to him. It was so much more satisfying, and he hadn’t even realized it until the offer was extended.

“I think I might if you don’t mind.” He said, surprising both young men.

“Of course,” Felix agreed readily. “If you’re ready?”

“I am,” Aro replied eagerly, looking forward to the night’s events.

~AB~

“That’ll be you,” Jacob said almost nonchalantly as he gestured at the screen.

“I’m genuinely insulted.” Bella retorted as the movie came to a close. She twisted, trying to look up to see Jacob as best she could from where she was lying against his side. He had his arm a bit around her, and before leaving them alone Renee had looked at it a bit odd given hers and Bella’s conversation the week before. “Like, seriously, truly insulted. For one, I won’t have fangs. Or get burned by sunlight.”

Jacob snorted. “That’s what you call bullshit on?”

Bella glanced at the hallway where she knew her mom and Phil were only a few doors down, working on the nursery for the new baby. Renee had said that the film had left her a bit unsettled, but didn’t want to stop Bella and Jacob from enjoying so left them to it, Phil joining her.

They might be out of hearing range unless they fell quiet, and then strained to hear, but Bella still lowered her voice to nearly a whisper.

“I call bullshit on a lot of it,” Bella replied, settling so she could look at the screen. “For one, if he’d been a real vampire, he and the band would have been destroyed by the first single. The Volturi would have wiped them all out. Then, there’s the whole last drop thing. And the changing, it’s not like that at all.”

“Dracula did tell me about the changing thing.” Jacob agreed. At Bella’s furrowed brow, he shrugged. “I was curious.”

She shook her head in wonder, but let it go. “Climbing on the walls and ceiling?”

“Yeah, they aren’t Spider-man.” Jacob agreed, chuckling along with Bella. “But then, it’s probably a good thing they don’t have it right, right? Means it’s not, like, a bloodsucker making movies.”

Bella hummed in agreement.

“I wish you weren’t going back tomorrow.” She confessed as the credits rolled on. “I wish you could have stayed until I left.”

Jacob’s arm dropped more firmly around her. “I need to get back. I can’t be away from the pack for long.” 

“I know.” Bella agreed with a sigh. “I’m just really going to miss you.”

“Me too,” Jacob said on a sigh. A few seconds passed by, and Jacob sighed again. “I… still am against your decision. Overall. I hate the idea that you’re willingly becoming of them. But… I’m not going to stop being your friend.”

“Really?” She asked, perking up a bit, sitting up slightly she could turn to look at him.

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. “I….” He sighed. “I’m warming up to the Cullens. I don’t like them entirely, I don’t think I ever will. But… I see that they aren’t evil. And despite what he does, I didn’t see Dracula as really… evil either. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he is easily the worst kind of bloodsucker. But, he respected our rules, and when his people came, he sent mine away. He could have easily allowed us to have a target, and he didn’t. 

“I know not all of them are going to be like him, and I’ll always hate them on sight for simply existing. But… you’re Bella. And I don’t think you’re going to change that much when you… change. I don’t think I could hate you.”

“Thank you,” Bella said, leaning in so she could hug Jacob.

“Not saying this will happen,” He said as he wrapped her arms around her, and Bella laughed into his shoulder, the relief and joy too much to keep inside.

~AB~

_Il suo cantante._

It had been so very long since blood appealed to him in quite this way. Aro had forgotten how absolutely tantalizing it could be. Once he’d caught a whiff of the human’s scent, he’d broken away from the others to follow it. 

It had been a very long time since he stalked prey like this. Even while he was overseas it was easy, find someone alone, drink, destroy.

But this human hadn’t been alone. A traveler in a group, French by the sounds of it. He’d trailed them, watched them. They were heading for the Colosseum when luck struck. The traveler fell back from the group. “ _Continue, je vais te rattraper,_ ” they had called, and the others had no issue leaving them alone. Experienced, it seemed. Confident. They ducked down, tied their shoe when their cell phone fell out of their pocket.

In a flash, Aro moved, purposely kicking the phone down the side street, having it skid to directly in front of a small space between buildings.

“ _Merde!_ ” They got up, lightly half-jogging to get their phone.

As they bend down, Aro grabbed them and pulled them back into the shadows, covering their mouth and going for the neck.

He could feel his eyes roll back, the venom pooling his mouth all the more and subduing the decadent tasting mortal all the more, making them going limp long before they lost the blood to do so. Aro very nearly let out a moan, forgetting how good a singer could be, it had been so long. And longer still since he set out to hunt while at home.

Human drained, Aro glanced out into the alley, making sure there was no one around before he set the body on fire with his new lighter. The one he’d given Isabella must have been left behind on the mountain, dropped when she ignited Victoria, and forgotten about in the aftermath. 

“Master?” Felix’s voice came from above, and Aro looked up to see him on a fire escape. “There’s a gathering up here in which Demetri, Heidi, and I were invited to. Perhaps you’d like to join us?”

Aro’s mouth quirked up, and he scaled the fire escape within a few seconds. 

“I’ve just had a rather satisfying meal, but one shouldn’t pass up dessert when it’s offered.” He said, earning a quiet snicker from his guard before they went inside, the intense smell of liquor and drugs peppering the air.

~*~

“You hunted.” Caius sneered. “Like a nomad?”

“Like any of our kind outside this castle,” Aro replied dismissively. “It was a favorite activity of yours at one point.”

“Our own laws demand we remain inconspicuous. How are four of you going to the city and feasting not draw attention?” Caius half-demanded and Aro shifted his jaw in an effort to maintain a placid expression.

There was no court being held at the moment, which meant the throne room was clear of everyone except the three leaders, Athenodora, and Corin who was ever-present to keep her mistress content with her lot. Content enough to not seem to care that her husband was arguing with the man he called brother over something she hadn’t ever been able to do on her own. Content that she was released from her tower only because there was no one else there in the throne room.

“The first is ash.” Aro replied. “We then dispersed the other six. None were close enough in vicinity in the end for attention to be drawn to them. And what’s more, Rome will be avoided for a while.” In a softer tone, he placed his hand on Caius’ sleeve and said, “We must let the guard have these little indulgences from time to time.”

“And when they are out of range of Chelsea?” Caius challenged just as softly but with more bite. “When they finally find themselves less loyal? What then?” 

Marcus merely sighed heavily from where he sat at the table in the corner of the room, a book in his lap that likely hadn’t been read.

Caius turned sharply to the eldest of them all and scowled. “You approve?” He questioned.

“I’m afraid I don’t really have an opinion,” Marcus replied. “But I think Aro is right in that they should be allowed to be their natural selves. It would prevent any of them from sitting still too long.”

Caius scoffed. “We ensure such a thing does not happen.” He grumbled, but let the subject drop for now. “When is your… Isabella supposed to arrive?”

“She’s set to arrive in a week and a few days,” Aro replied, a surge of anticipation rushing through him. 

“Good,” Caius said. “Athenodora will enjoy a companion.”

“She will not be joining your wife in the tower,” Aro stated, shifting around his brother to the papers on the table, pleased to see from the start that there were no more reports coming from Seattle in regards to suspicious activity. 

“No?” Caius asked, not hostile like before but more confused. “Well, you say that now. She’s still human. Once she’s turned, once you understand….” Caius tensed a moment then turned sharply to the women in the room. “Back! Time is up, I will see you soon.”

Athenodora bowed her head with a serene smile, Corin doing the same in a more obedient air, and then the two were gone.

“Have we heard more from that… blonde. The one who follows that foolish diet?” Caius asked, looking to the papers as well.

“No,” Aro replied. “I don’t believe we have.”

“Good,” Caius said as he settled next to Marcus. “Let’s hope she refrains from coming to us with her romantic whoas.”

Aro nodded, then joined his brothers. His mind was too occupied to read properly, with so many things fighting for priority. So he sat, and he thought, and he turned a page now and then, but not a word was truly absorbed.

~AB~

Jacob had left the week before, and she was days away from leaving for Italy, so Bella was in a funk. Not that she didn’t love her mom, and Phil, but she was in a weird sort of limbo that there was no supernatural entity in her life, at her side. She could feel that deep pit of despair from September hover in the shadows, waiting for something to happen and for her to feel a disconnect from the life she was supposed to have, to pull her back in.

Renee was being well-intentioned when she dragged Bella out to dinner, then to shopping as the twilight gave way to night. Phil had had practice or something, leaving them on their own to stroll down the streets arm in arm.

“Oh, there’s the bookshop I was telling you about.” Renee pointed out, and Bella allowed herself to be pulled to the storefront. 

There was a collection of books on tables outside the brightly lit shop, which was a bit of surprise considering how close to the beach they happened to be. The saltwater couldn’t be good for the pages, nor the wind that swept toward them even if it was oddly gentle.

“I think about you every time I come by here,” Renee said fondly as Bella picked up a book and looked it over. 

She stiffened as she was about to put it back, having felt eyes on her enough times now to know when she was being watched by a predator. Putting the book down, she glanced about, trying to see where the likely suspect was hiding. 

“Yeah?” She asked her mom, hand going to her necklace and playing with it, turning it this way and that, even flashing it over her shoulder as a precaution, though she had a feeling she knew which shadow the stalker was hiding in. “

“They have more inside, of course. A great selection of classics.” Renee continued, and Bella looked at her, grinning.

“Why don’t you head in, I’ll be there in a moment.”

Renee petted Bella’s hair fondly. “I’ll be in the baby section.” She confessed before heading into the quaint little shop, the tinkle of the bell the only sound in the night aside from the waves hitting the shore.

No one moved, the night air relatively still as if anticipating what might happen next.

“Are you going to come out?” Bella asked quietly, eyes focused on the books as she addressed the stalker.

A few seconds later, someone was just behind her, in her personal space, looking over her shoulder.

“You should not be wearing that.” He said in a friendly sort of way that sounded equally amused and perplexed.

Bella stepped to the side, looking up at the red-eyed with long dark hair as she picked up her Volturi crest.

“This?” She guessed, but his eyes fell on something else.

“You’re a double threat,” He said as he took her wrist in his hand. “So what is it, then? Cullen or Volturi?”

“Both,” She said without hesitation.

“Can’t be.” The vampire replied. “I know Carlisle’s on friendly terms with the Volturi, but they aren’t what one calls chummy.”

“You’re behind on the times then.” She replied, then offered her hand. “I’m Bella.”

“Garrett.” He replied, bemused, shaking her hand. “Now, Bella, what’s a very tasty smelling human like you doing still human given your connections?”

She glanced at the shop, knowing that her mom wouldn’t have heard anyway. “I’m scheduled for my immortal makeover soon. How do you know Carlisle?” She asked curiously.

“We go back,” Garrett smirked. “How do _you_ know Carlisle? Or even the Volturi? I’m not sure which one is more interesting, to be honest.”

“Long story on both accounts.” Bella countered, glancing pointedly at the shop.

Garrett looked at it, seeming to listen to what was going on inside. “Suppose it is.” He agreed, turning back to her. “So I’m gonna ask about the latter, given Carlisle’s always been fond of humans.”

“I found myself with Edward and Alice in Italy.” She explained.

Garrett frowned. “Edward I know, Alice I don’t. Alright, so, you end up in Italy, how do you walk away with that?” He said, flicking the crest delicately.

“It was a later gift.”

“Oh?”

“Mmm,” Bella hummed with a slight nod. “To say I’m quite special to someone.”

“They don’t give those out to dinner.”

“No, they don’t.” Bella agreed with a smirk, sort of enjoying this banter.

Garrett looked at her for a long time before he shook his head. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Ask what?”

“Who you belong to.” He glanced at her hand, where her scar from James lay. “I doubt you’re a pet.”

“That’s from a different encounter with a nomad.” 

“You are something else, aren’t you?” Garrett grinned, glancing at the store again. “I hope I find myself running into you again, Bella. Though I’m hoping for my sake it’s not in Volterra.”

“Same.” Bella agreed, earning a snicker from the vampire before he turned and vanished.

She stared at the spot where he’d gone until the bell over the door of the shop tinkled.

“Bella?” Renee asked.

“Yeah, on my way,” Bella said, turning to her mom and trying to burn Garrett into her faulty human memory in hopes to carry him and her experience over into her second life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your continued support, as always.  
> The next chapter I think is something many would be looking forward to, and I'm quite excited to explore the world beyond it.  
> Until then!


	23. Chapter 23

Someone messed with her booking. She wasn’t sure if it was Aro or the Cullens, but she did not book a first-class seat when she arranged for her one-way trip. Bella had to admit that it did make sleeping easier, and since that’s what she did for the exceedingly long flight she couldn’t complain as much as she wanted to. 

Nerves had had her up most of the night before, a sick feeling in her gut making her not want to eat much before boarding. 

Part of her was excited because this was _it_. The beginning, the start of her forever. Bella Swan of Forks was soon to be a memory, and Bella Swan the vampire was only a short time away from existing. It’s what she wanted, what she longed for, and someone she cared for and trusted more than anything was going to be the one to give it to her.

But she was also terrified, the burn from James’ bite still memorable over a year later. Fear that despite the reassurance that she would be herself, and she wouldn’t remember who she was before. That the bond with the one who was to change her would also overpower her, altering her, making her someone and something else.

Then there was the mourning of that old life, of who she was now and all her friends and family. The sibling she’ll never know, and the father who wouldn’t see her again. Her mom and Phil who she’d already started losing so much contact with, and the human friends who had been thrilled for her and eager to hear about studies in Italy.

As the plane began to touch down, the sun shining merrily through her window, Bella wished Jasper had been beside her, to calm the rioting storm of everything inside her. 

She hadn’t known what to expect as she departed the plane. Customs was an easy enough thing since she wasn’t _really_ there for school, and didn’t need a visa. She was making her way across Europe and didn’t have a return flight booked because she didn’t know when or where she would depart from. But once she had been able to leave the secured area, when she was where everyone milled about, checking in or getting to where they were going next, that part she hadn’t planned for that beyond getting her luggage. Get to Volterra, that was all she’d known.

Bella really shouldn’t have been terribly surprised, then, to find a man standing in a shaded spot of the airport sporting sunglasses and gloves holding a sign with her name on it.

She pulled her luggage along, heading to the man who had started to smirk long before she got close to him.

“You’re… Felix, right?” She asked, trying to remember his name.

“That I am, mistress.”

“No,” She said firmly. “None of that. It’s Bella, just Bella.” 

Despite the sunglasses, she knew Felix was looking quite pointedly at the gold crest around her neck.

Bella rolled her eyes. “Lead the way,” She said, gesturing behind him.

Felix lowered the sign, then turned. Somewhere along the way, it was dropped into a recycling bin, and he took over the burden of her luggage, careful to make the wheels still skim the ground in an effort to look more human.

They weaved their way to a parking garage, and while the sun was still bright leaking through the open spaces, it was shaded enough that the vampires would be relatively safe from detection.

Felix led her to a nondescript black car that reminded her greatly of the one that sat in her father’s driveway back in Forks. 

Standing beside it was the smaller, blonde vampire Bella remembered from Forks and before.

“Demetri?” She asked, and he simply nodded once before moving to the back of the car to open the door while Felix put her luggage into the trunk. “Thanks,” She said as she shifted around to get in.

“Think nothing of it, mistress.” He said as she swooped past him inside.

“Bella. Just Bella.”She said firmly as Demetri shut the door.

“They’re only paying you respect.” 

Bella startled bad enough she yelped, her body jumping to the point she nearly hit her head on the ceiling. 

Aro’s voice was smooth, calm, but completely unexpected.

Hand over her racing heart, panting furiously, Bella turned to him and glared at his amusement. When he started to giggle quietly she huffed, crossing her arms, and turned her gaze to the tinted window. 

“Oh come now, _mia cara._ ”

“You’re an asshole.” She said furiously, the air around them momentarily stilling as the two other vampires ceased whatever they had been doing that Bella hadn’t been paying any mind to.

“I’ve missed you as well.” He said fondly, causing her to peek over at him. 

The fondness faded to concern as she watched him, Felix and Demetri resuming whatever it was that they were doing beforehand but in a careful sort of way. 

Aro’s concern then morphed into worry, and Bella really couldn’t stay cross with him. 

“I didn’t expect you to be here.” She eventually said, reaching for him, taking hold of his hand.

Tension in his shoulders eased, though he certainly didn’t relax. “Would you have rather I wasn’t?”

“I didn’t even know I was going to have a way to get to you waiting here, let alone _you_.” She replied, “I’m more put out that you found my reaction amusing.”

His lips twitched. “It was rather adorable,” He said softly, turning his hand to hold hers. “I see there’s no bandage anymore. Did you finally allow yourself to heal without further re-injury?” 

“Yeah.” She said, looking down at her hand, taking in the way his cool fingers wrapped gently around it. “Did you ever get my letters?”

“I did.” He replied tersely.

“Should… should I not have written them?” She asked nervously.

“I’m glad you did,” Aro assured quickly, his tone gentler. “It simply shone a light on the incompetence of our secretary.”

“Gianna?” Bella frowned. 

“Ah, no. She… departed not long after my return.” He said.

“Dessert?” She hazards a guess, remembering Jane’s glib comment when they were being led to the throne room.

“I suppose.” Aro agreed nonchalantly. 

“I thought… she was going to be… you know.”

“Not everyone gets turned, Bella,” Aro said as kindly as possible. “Having a human secretary helps keep us up with advancements, but if we changed all of them… we’d certainly have a large coven indeed.”

“I get the feeling that incompetence isn’t going to have anyone turned.” Bella cringed.

“It indeed does not,” Aro replied. “But in regard to your letters. I did receive them, and I did enjoy them. They brought a certain bit of sunlight to my day. Your lock of hair, in particular, was a wonderful surprise.”

“Not too modern?” Bella teased, the car beginning to move.

“I have an eternity of this, don’t I?” He asked with a put upon sigh.

“Yes,” She replied without hesitation. “Are you about to send me back?”

“Only if you want me to.”

“Not yet.” She said, then leaning across the space, kissed his cheek.

Aro breathed deeply, reaching for her, pulling her closer. “I rather hope you never wish to leave.” He said into her hair. “Each time we’ve parted it’s been for longer, and each time grows more unbearable.”

Bella nestled into his stone-like body, her heart picking up speed as she realized it wouldn’t likely be much longer and she’d likely not notice a difference between them.

“How long do we have?” She asked, snaking her arms around his waist. 

“About three hours, two if Demetri finds us a fairly clear route,” Aro replied, cradling her head.

Bella groaned, the anticipation and nerves being almost too much. She was too terrified to ask how long she had left as a human, not wanting to know the hours or minutes, and doubting Aro would do it here in the car on their way back to Volterra.

“You’re the one who took the plane landing in Rome.” He chided gently.

“It was the cheaper one.” She grumbled against his coat. “ _Someone_ changed the ticket to a higher class one, but before that, it was the cheapest one I could get out of Florida.”

“Well, it wasn’t I or anyone in the Volturi who tampered with your choice,” Aro assured. “But I do have to ask if you’re alright. Your heart is beating far faster than it should for a mild annoyance.”

“I don’t want to talk about it here,” She told him.

“I can grant that reprieve as long it’s not something that should be remedied now.”

“No,” She shook her head as much as she could. 

“Alright then.” He said, and they fell silent.

It was about a half-hour into their trip, Bella as relaxed as she could be given everything looming, that she had clued in that Aro hadn’t stopped touching some part of her skin. Hand, hair, an occasional brush of his nose against her temple. He was essentially her seat belt, his arms wrapped around her, holding her safely to him, and while it wasn’t weird that he wouldn’t move given what he was, she had always known him to fidget at least a little for her sake.

Touch starved came to mind, though she doubted that was probably the case. A different sort, probably. One in which contact with flesh was needed where he wouldn’t have to hear and see. She recalled from her advanced biology class back in Phoenix that Oxytocin was a hormone released with touch. And while she wasn’t sure vampires worked the same way, what with being undead, she couldn’t imagine the mixed chemicals that had to come from touching someone and yet hearing all the awful, or even simply unpleasant things about yourself that ever crossed that person’s mind. 

“Do you think this will change when I am?” Bella asked, causing Aro to snap his attention to her. “Do you think you’ll hear me when we’re the same?”

“No,” Aro replied. “I truly think you will be immune to me for eternity.” 

“Good.” She said decidedly.

“Oh?” He asked with a smirk that held no real weight.

She couldn’t put into words why she thought that at least not in a way she thought he would want expressed with two of his guard in the front of the car. But considering he’d been holding her, allowed her to kiss his cheek, she risked something more and kissed his quirked lips.

After her brief but firm kiss, she said, “Yeah.”

“ _La mia meravigliosa creatura*,”_ He whispered before stealing a longer kiss from her. 

Bella hummed happily, the feeling of home so strong within her that it was nearly too much. Pulling back, she rested her head against his neck and stayed there for the rest of the car ride.

~*~

“Hey, dad,” Bella greeted Charlie when he answered the phone.

“Hey, Bells. You’re in your dorm?” He asked in turn, eager and unsure all at once.

Bella looked around the room, taking in the pristine bed, the wardrobes, the large windows, the bookshelves. It was so not at all what she would have pictured, and yet it was so perfectly Aro as she knew him. The furniture and bedding dark, but the walls the same pale stone as in the throne room. Despite not needing it, there was a soft white rug covering the floor, and the books were varying shades of browns, reds, blues, and greens. They were pops of color, along with various antique instruments from years gone by that had a function Bella could never guess at. 

“Yeah,” She said, taking it all in again. “Yeah, all settled in. Or, at least as much as I can be for now.” She said as she made her way to the stairs that led down to his study. 

Again, it was so unlike what she expected and yet was still so him. She supposed there was a biased lingering in her mind that she hadn’t given much credit to. That Aro was so very much a _vampire_ in that he owned what he was, and looked quite near what many expected one to look like. She expected dark walls and darker furniture. Nothing soft or comfortable. Dust and cobwebs, maybe even candelabras for the unneeded light.

Yes, she had recalled the throne room, how it was as up to date as likely possible, but she may have thought it was merely for the benefit of the tourists. But the whole castle had been brought into the modern era, lights being used throughout even though they weren’t technically needed. 

As she came to the bottom of the stairs, she spotted Aro watching her from a chair by the window, the sun hitting his skin and causing it to shimmer. She leaned against the wall and just stared, taking him in simply because she could.

“How’s your roommate? Have you met them yet?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, I have. They’re alright, I suppose. Seem to have a bit of an ego on them.” Bella replied, watching the amusement twist Aro’s mouth into a not-quite smile. 

“Well, a program like that, exclusive as it seems, I think an ego’s well deserved to some extent,” Charlie remarked before a massive yawn came through the line. “Glad to hear you made, Bells, but….”

“Yeah, early there.” Bella agreed. “Just… letting you know.”

“Right. Okay, well, thanks. Talk to you soon?”

“Maybe in a couple weeks.” She said, not wanting to promise anything. After a quick goodbye, she hung up her phone, then headed toward Aro. She dropped her phone on his desk on the way to him and stopped in front of his chair. “I want you to know,” She started, “that this is starting to get a bit weird to me.”

“What is, _mia cara_?” He asked her, tilting his head.

“That I’ve essentially moved in with a guy when I’m eighteen.” She said as she stepped into the space between his legs when he uncrossed them. She put her hands on his shoulders, thumbs fiddling with the collar of his shirt. “That I flew half-way around the world to be here with you. That this is as close to married as I will ever get, and I’ve done it really young.”

“You’re also going to allow me to bite into that beautiful neck of yours and change you into an immortal being. I would wager that’s a far greater commitment than sharing a space with me until such a time that you can either have your own or you decide to leave Volterra altogether.” He replied, getting to his feet, slowly putting his hands on her waist. “Is that what had your heart pounding in the car on the way over?” He asked with a frown.

“No,” She shook her head before resting it against his chest. The gesture was familiar, comforting and she wanted to stay there forever. “Later?”

“When you’re ready.” He assured. “One of the most wonderful things about you is that you’re a mystery, and I don’t have to know your secrets before you’re ready to share them.”

She smiled into his shirt.

“But…” He said, as uneasy and uncertain as she’d ever heard him. “I’m afraid there is a secret I have been keeping from you.”

“Which is?” She asked, peeking up at him.

“You spoke of the painting in Carlisle’s study in one of your letters.”

“Mmmmhmmm.”

“Do you know when it was done?”

“No.”

“During a very lavish party. One of the last times a vampire was turned in our coven.”

Bella frowned, “Alright.” She said slowly, a second before she connected the dots. “Oh no.” She groaned, flopping her head back against his chest and ignoring the uncomfortable thud that vibrated down her neck when she did.

“I’m afraid so.” He replied with only minimal humor at her expense.

“That’s why Alice wanted me to have the dress.” She complained, wondering why Alice had been so damn insistent that Bella had an evening gown. 

“Leave it to dear Alice to ensure you’re prepared,” Aro said fondly.

“I’m not expected to dance, am I?” Bella asked as she leaned back, wincing as she anticipated the answer.

Aro pursed his lips. “I would like to say no. You’re a human, and what’s more, it would be an introduction of you to the coven as my mate. Or, as I’m sure many will speculate, my _intended_ mate much like Sulpicia had been. Caius, Marcus, and I do not tend to participate, more watch over the spectacle. But I imagine it would be to your benefit to show you’re unafraid to be with those of our kind before you are one.”

“So I’m going to have to dance, and I can’t even do it with you. Great.”

“We could dance now,” He said, catching her off guard by sweeping her into a waltzing stance, spinning her a moment. 

Bella couldn’t help the surprised laugh as he turned her about a half dozen times. His smile was infectious, so despite her dizziness, her sudden nerves, she had to return it. His red eyes sparkled merrily, and Bella was reminded quite suddenly that he’d been waiting quite a while for her.

They were soul mates, still a very terrifying concept. But how could it be bad when it brought this ancient being so much joy? Something he probably didn’t have a lot of in his millennia-long existence.

“Will she be there? Sulpicia?” Bella asked as he brought them back to a standing position.

“No,” He replied. “It’s only the main coven, perhaps a passing nomad or guests lingering in the castle. If we extended the invitation to all those who are a sort of extended family of the coven, it would be far too many vampires to have in one spot.”

Bella hummed in understanding, her hand gliding up his shoulder to play with the soft strands of his hair. “How long before we’re expected there?” She asked.

“Long enough that if you wish to see the city, have a taste of it beforehand, you could do so.”

“But alone,” She said, looking at the sun shining through the windows.

“I thought Bianca, the new secretary, would be a good companion,” Aro said, lightly tugging at the tips of Bella’s hair that rested just above where his hand rested. 

“Alright.” Bella said, “suppose it’s a bit of a last meal. As a human. Can I make just one request before I leave you for the afternoon?”

“Depends on what it is,” Aro replied.

“Kiss me?”

“Gladly,” He said before granting her request until someone came to his study door to announce Bianca was ready to take Bella to lunch.

~AB~

She was a vision. 

The dress Bella had lamented so was absolutely perfect. Simple, yet elegant. Modern. So many of those in attendance relied on old favorites with so very few deciding to update. Even he, despite being more inclined to keep up with the more formal fashions had resurrected a favorite of the late eighteen hundreds. It wasn’t like there were any other humans aside from Bella in attendance that might question their choices.

Among gowns with wide skirts and corsets, her black dress was minimal and perhaps a bit scandalous to some. It didn’t cling to her body anywhere but her torso, but nor did it flare out when Demetri turned her about the floor, making her laugh. Aro wondered how it stayed on her body as it appeared the only thing keeping it up was the trail of fabric that fell over her left shoulder and hung down her exposed back. Something in the fabric would catch the light now and then, like vampire skin in the sun, and her pendant hung just low enough against the dress that it wouldn’t find itself tucked within it.

Aro watched her with rapt attention, barely minding anyone around him. 

It became apparent as the night went on that word of Bella had spread wider among the coven than he anticipated. Someone overhearing Jane and Alec wondering at how she was still human despite Aro’s long presence in Washington. Why she should be wearing a crest of such high rank, especially while she still had a beating heart.

It appeared, aside from Marcus and Ciaus, only Demetri and Felix had known the true nature of their relationship, and Aro noted that thought had only come about earlier in the day when Bella first cursed him, then their shared kiss in the car. It stung a little that the general consensus was he would remain mateless, that he would never have one, and that his fascination with Bella went only as far as her being immune to him. 

He wondered if they knew he watched her now, how she changed hands from Felix to Demetri. How she would smile shyly if not nervously at those who managed to catch her eye. Did they find it odd that he would not join her despite the unspoken rule that the leaders did not step foot among the merrymakers? That he stayed on the balcony, the same one depicted in the painting in the Cullen house, watching her from above with his brothers at his side?

“When will it happen?” Caius asked, interrupting his musings.

“Tonight,” Aro assured. “I’ll not let her stay here human. Not beyond the next few hours.”

“So we shall not see much of you, then for a few days?” Caius asked in what might pass for casual for him. “You do so like to watch over those you turn.”

“No, you will not see much of me.” Aro agreed, noting a few hungry vampires eyeing Bella up. A sharp look from Felix from the side of the room was all it took to keep those few from doing more than dancing in her presence.

“No wedding?” Marcus asked.

“No,” Aro confirmed. 

“So we’re not hosting an engagement party, but a funeral,” Caius remarked, and Aro glanced at him. “I suppose it’s fitting.”

“And where is your lovely wife this evening?” Aro asked cordially. “In her rooms? Didn’t want to join the party.”

“She was content to stay,” Caius replied. “I’ll join her later once you take Isabella to be changed. I’ll inform Corin to anticipate a new addition in a couple of weeks.” When Aro went to argue, Caius insisted. “You will change your mind. A few days after she’s been in this new life you will see that the idea of her possibly being anywhere but under your thumb will have you mad.”

He looked back to Bella and caught Demetri’s eye when he had. With a simple gesture, he summoned them both.

“I do hope you don’t find yourself too tempted to drain her.” Caius teased as Demetri stopped their dancing, leading Bella to the stairs leading to the balcony.

“She holds no appeal for me that way,” Aro assured.

“I think you may be the only one,” Caius mumbled as he distanced himself from the arrival of Bella. 

She was flushed but smiling, clearly having enjoyed herself more than she expected or probably even wanted to let on. 

Demetri led her by the hand to Aro, bowing before his master before giving Bella’s hand to him.

A flutter of thought echoed in the brush of their hands, and Aro found his guard quite fond and enchanted by Bella. 

Had it been anyone else, a head would have rolled.

“Thank you, Demetri,” Aro said kindly.

“A pleasure, master.” He said in return. “Mistress.” He said to Bella in a very cheeky way that had her huffing.

“Just Bella.” She tried to affirm, but Demetri merely smiled and left the balcony, returning to the ballroom, going to Felix’s side.

“Come, _mia cara_ ,” Aro said, guiding her through the doors at the back and into the empty throne room.

Their footsteps echoed in the empty space, and Bella looked up and around the room as they moved. They passed no one as they made their way through the corridors, the speed agonizingly slow when he was so used to moving at the speed he wished. But Bella seemed content to hold his hand and walk, her fingers lacing with his in a way that couldn’t have been terribly comfortable for her. 

“How was your afternoon out?” He asked her, barely having had a chance to talk to her before they needed to ready for the events of the evening.

Bella shrugged. “It was alright. Bianca’s… different. Reminds me a little of Jess, a friend from Forks. Not quite as smart, though. And she fawned a lot, it was weird.” She said, turning a scrunched face Aro’s way and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“She was probably in awe of you. Nevertheless, she was the best of those from the last group of applicants.”

“Having trouble keeping the position filled,” Bella asked, arching a brow.

“Gianna had been with us for a long time, to be completely honest. Well, long for a secretary of ours.”

They rounded a corner, and Bella chewed her lip. “You might need to look into having an immortal filling in for a bit. Might look weird when the same place is always looking to hire for the same position.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed, letting their conversation dwindle.

He listened to her breathing and her heart as they approached the tower, noting how the latter fluttered, then began to pick up pace the closer they got. Up the stairs, and he sensed her squeezing his hand. By the time they reached the top, he suspected that her unsteady breaths were not caused by exertion. 

He guided her through the door, letting go of her hand, and watched her wring hers as she glanced around the study. Her focus fell to the window, her gaze on the deep dark of the sky marking the early morning hours. The moon shone bright, just visible at the edge of the window frame. Low, but not terribly so.

“May I carry you upstairs?” He asked gently, and she nodded a bit too quickly.

Aro approached her cautiously, bending slightly at the knees and scooping her up. Her arms were barely around his neck before he was setting her down again at the foot of his bed, where she would be while her change took place, safe and away from prying eyes. 

He watched her look at the bed, her face screwed up as if she were in pain, or forcing herself into something, all the while the tattoo of her heartbeat filled the silence of the room.

“Your heart is pounding.” He said to her, cautiously taking her into his arms again.

Bella’s hands found their way to the lapels of his jacket, moving to touch the velvet of his waistcoat.

“I'm scared.” She confessed, seeming unable to look at him. “I still want this more than anything. It's just that I remember how it felt when James bit me. I remember, and it had really only been a few minutes. Now it’s going to be days of it.”

He slowly moved his hand, touching her chin, getting her to look at him.

“Bella, _mia amata_ , it _will_ burn, I can not try and ease your fears in that way. But it will not last.”

She nodded. “I know. I do. I’m just… nervous.” 

He shifted his hand, caressed her cheek. “I will be here through it all.” He promised, his chest filling with affection as she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. “And,” He said, capturing her attention, “I can think of one way to ease your fear.”

“How?” She asked with the barest quirk of her lips.

He kissed her softly, gently, barely more than a brush, and yet venom began to seep into his mouth in anticipation of what he hoped was to come.

Pulling back slightly, nudging her nose with his when she chased his lips, he softly suggested, “I could bring you pleasure before you plummet into the pain.”

She hummed, intrigued. “That was quite nice last time.”

“It was.” He agreed. “But I thought perhaps this time you could be a more active participant, and that we may find our that pleasure together.”

Bella reared back, and he thought he’d said the wrong thing.

But there was hope in her eyes, and a bit of that same anticipation starting to push the fear away. 

“Y-you mean?”

“Yes,” He replied against her lips, earning a delightful shudder from her.

“You would? Really? Before…. Really?” When he frowned just a bit, she added, “You… didn’t want to before.”

He grinned. “I didn’t _dare_ to before, because I would want to do precisely what I will do this evening.” He said before pecking her lips, “Nip.” He said against them before kissing the pulse point on her neck. “Bite.” He added to the skin there, hearing her breath catch in that delightful way he remembered so clearly. He trailed his lips up her neck, putting them by her ear. “Change you.”

“That,” Bella said, leaning away so she could shift and see his face. “That is exactly how I want to spend my last moments as a human. With you. Like that.”

“ _Perfetto.”_

It was the last thing he said before he kissed her again.

~*~

One moment and Bella was in bliss. Then venom filled his mouth for the dozenth time, only he didn’t swallow it back as he had before. He didn’t turn his head and press his forehead to the heat of her shoulder to prolong the night. This time, he turned to Bella’s neck and bit.

The sounds in her throat cut off and changed from one expressing pleasure to sharp pain. Her blood seeped out of her skin, past his teeth, hitting his tongue. It was a beautiful flavor and smelled wondrously floral. Intense, and sweet. Aro removed his teeth from her neck then licked the bite closed, managing to both get a hint of that unique flavor on his tongue while also sealing the wound shut. He then kissed the hollow of her neck, moving around to the other side, delivering yet another bite and another yelp. Another lick, another sealed wound. He then kissed the corner of her mouth, feeling her body grow more rigid as the venom started to surge more vigorously through her veins. 

Aro maneuvered himself out from beneath her, then laid her down on her back.

Bella made no more sounds, her face pinched and her eyes widening and narrowing as she fought against the burn. She met his eyes, and Aro caressed her cheek.

“Three days, _mia amata_. It will only be three days, and then this will all be over. And I will be here, right here the whole time, I swear it.” He said, clasping her hand, feeling her ineffectual grip on it. Weaker than normal, but that was expected. “Close your eyes, breathe while you can. Remember how you felt just before.”

Blessedly she still had enough of her mind at the moment to hear him, and she did as he suggested and shut her eyes while attempting to draw in breath. She didn’t relax, but the tension eased a little, and she let go of his hand, choosing to ball her hands into fists at her side. 

Another kiss on her lips and Aro redressed. He would wait until the change was further along before he bathed and changed his beloved when it was less likely that the touch would irritate her skin. 

Standing at her bedside, he looked out the tower window, noting the green-blue tint of the sky that marked the sun beginning to peek up over the horizon, heralding the dawn of a new day, and the beginning of a second life.

~AB~

Halfway around the world, the sun was just falling below the horizon line, and Alice Cullen sat high in a tree and watched it fade while enjoying a quiet moment to reflect. Everything was crystal clear, and things had happened exactly as Aro had planned. As Bella had decided she would attempt to try. As all her predictions had, well, predicted. 

It was both terribly wonderful and horribly frightening, given one of the avenues she’d seen snippets of was not what one would call promising.

A rustling below signaled Jasper’s arrival, and a moment later he was sitting on the branch beside her. He focused on the horizon, trying to see what she was, and knowing he never would.

“Has it all taken place?” He asked in his sweet southern drawl.

“Precisely as I had seen it would from the moment Bella decided she would trust him,” Alice confirmed with a pleased smile that didn’t last.

Jasper noticed, or perhaps he sensed her unease.

“So that means the rest of it…?”

“Hasn’t been decided.” She said a little sadly. “It’s all still uncertain. Someone isn’t sure. Or maybe there are a few who are unsure of what they want to do. I can’t focus, can’t see anyone outside of our family, Bella, and Aro clearly. So as it stands….”

“As it stands,” Jasper said in that solid sort of way only he could speak that said nothing yet everything. He knew what she did, having felt the need to confide him the events that were possibly to come. Someone she knew could handle it without wanting to interfere. “But there’s no use worrying on it until something’s more solid. I still say don’t say anything to any of ‘em, not ‘til you get a clear picture. You saw Bella as one of us, but the picture wasn’t as clear as it was until after her birthday. Then you went to Volterra and knew why. Now….”

Alice focused on Bella, and she beamed. “She’s going to be beautiful.”

“Not nearly as beautiful as you,” He said to her cheek before giving it a peck.

“You would say that,” She teased, but Jasper only chuckled, knowing she believed him, knowing it was only a tease. 

Jasper held her as the sun faded, and Alice only allowed herself until the dark of night fell around them to try and see which of the possible futures would come to pass now that Bella’s transition had likely begun.

But when nothing solidified, she hopped down from the tree and set her sense to search for prey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *My wonderful creature 
> 
> Thanks everyone for continuing to read! This sorta concludes what my mind calls "part one". This is where I had originally debated splitting it off into two parts but decided to carry on.  
> I love how much love Garrett's introduction got. Because I will say this: this isn't the last we'll see of him.
> 
> Until next time.


	24. Chapter 24

Bella hadn’t really expected to be conscious through most of the change. She’d heard the stories, of course, from Carlisle, from Edward. Aro had been transparent about the whole thing, which is probably why she was able to bear it all as best she could. It _was_ more endurable than the bite from James.

When her heart came to a fast and sudden stop it had been nearly deafening. Had it not been for Aro, she’d have thought she went through all that pain and suffering to simply die.

“Bella.” He said, and his voice sounded a touch different to her ears. More lilting, more soothing. 

She opened her eyes and had to shut them again. The lights overhead, the stone, the dust motes were all too much. She took a breath through her nose to steady herself, a carry-over from her human life, and tasted so many different things. Dust, stone, old books, cloth of various types, a plant that she didn’t remember seeing in the room but was clearly there somewhere. There was a stale yet glorious smell that made her throat ache like she swallowed sandpaper, but then she caught something familiar and comforting and the ache eased. 

Bella opened her eyes again, and noted every grain in the wood on the ceiling above her, every speck in every stone. The fibers of the bedding where she lay and the details of the leaves on a vine that curled up the side of the tower. The plant she hadn’t noticed, she’d guess. And now that she was attuned, she could hear the sounds of birds and insects outside, traffic in the city below, a very faint, distant heartbeat echoing deeper in the castle, as well as her own movements against the sheets.

Sheets that were beyond soft beneath her fingertips, something she didn’t realize or maybe hadn’t noticed in the last few hours she’d been human.

But just her fingertips, as she suddenly realized she was clothed. She hadn’t been clothed before, so someone - probably Aro - dressed her.

Aro.

She wanted to get up and suddenly she was on her feet beside the bed, confused as to how she managed to move so quickly and with barely any thought. Sitting up quick she could understand but on her feet? A few feet from the bed?

She looked down at it, at the space between her and the furniture. 

She was wearing jeans, black, a bit snug, comfortable. Odd. Stiffer? No, just, denser. No, that wasn’t it, either. Just different. Lighter and heavier all at once. She was wearing a knit shirt, navy in color, soft like the bedding had been. Boots on her feet. Was she wearing socks? Was she wearing anything underneath any of it? No to socks, yes to underthings. Why? Aro hadn’t worn any.

Aro.

She found him in an instant, whether because he had never been far and she was just constantly distracted, or because instincts told her where he was.

And _Oh!_

She remembered meeting him, looking into his eyes for the first time, and feeling something shift. She remembered all those other little times bits and pieces of her soul clicked into a place she didn’t know of. And now, seeing him for the first time with her vampire eyes, she suddenly _knew._ She _understood_. And it didn’t seem so scary now, because this was forever. It was eternity. He was her lover, but he was also her mentor and her friend. She could tell him anything, literally anything including that she’d loved another, and he never held it against her. 

She remembered the conversation he had with Edward, the one they shared when they thought she and Jacob were asleep. At the time she was touched by his willingness to self-sacrifice his own happiness for her, but now she _got_ it. If he were to look at her, decide she wasn’t worthy of being his after all, she would let him walk away. Because it would be so much better to be in the world, their world, knowing he was happy without her than miserable with her there.

Bella barely thought about how she wanted to kiss him senseless before she was there, hands in his hair, pushing her lips to his as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

And then reared back because they were soft, and he was warm. Not human warm as she remembered it but not ice. Not marble. 

Her surprise must have been clear as day because he broke into a smile and began that delightful giggle that was so much better to hear with her vampire hearing. It was infectious, and while she wasn’t sure she could laugh with him, Bella broke out into a grin.

“You’re delightful.” He said, shaking his head in her hold. “A marvel. S _quisita.”_ He lifted a hand to her cheek, caressing it, cupping it. His palm was warm and pliant and it didn’t make sense but at the same time, it did. “And I don’t hear a single thought of yours, just as I expected.”

“Good.” She said, her voice sounding so much prettier to her own ears. “I want you to have that. To be able to touch me and be touched and not have to hear everything.”

The love he had in his eyes was terrifying, empowering, and something Bella felt in equal amounts. Had since she was human. But she still wouldn’t say it, refused. At least for now.

Instead, she kissed him again, expecting the differences this time.

Distantly, there was a crash, and the sound of something like rock and dust falling. A growl from a throat, probably his, and the feel of something hitting her on the head though it didn’t hurt.

Pulling back, Bella took in the new scene in which a side of one of Aro’s bookshelves had broken, the books tumbling to the floor, and a very faint vampire shaped indent in the stone wall behind her lover.

“Oops?” She questioned, the glee in Aro’s eyes preventing her from feeling terribly guilty.

“Your strength will temper out, and you’ll adjust soon _mia cara._ But it’s very much like I had thought: you wanted this and was prepared for it, so you’re not feral as some newborns are.”

“I could be feral,” She teased, twitching an eyebrow and quirking her lips.

“And I’m quite looking forward to that. But first, you’ll need to hunt.”

“Right,” She said, stepping back, trying to imagine stalking a human, picking up on the scent. Their smell like that tantalizing, wondrous thing that lingered in the air but was old. The warm heat of glorious liquid dripping down her throat…. “Right.” She said more pointedly this time, looking out the window and realizing that there were thousands of humans just outside the castle, milling about. 

“Isabella,” Aro said, getting her attention. He beckoned, “Come,” He asked, and she was at his side, hand falling into his. “Would you like a proper hunt, or something simply to ease the ache?”

“You mean like… do I want the delivered humans or do I want to go find one.”

“More or less.”

“Find one.” She said firmly. “I don’t want to… this will be my first, and I don’t want to do it in front of everyone while the watch.”

“Fair enough.” He said, guiding her through the castle. “We’ll go on foot. Head toward Venice.” 

It occurred to her that they were moving incredibly fast without Bella having realized it. So much faster than when she was human. And yet she could still take note of every detail of everything they passed.

She stopped them quite suddenly, looking around, realizing she hadn’t missed a thing in their quicker speed. 

“Bella?” Aro asked.

“I just….” She let go of his hand so she could turn about, and in turning found herself spinning quick enough that a human would be dizzy, and yet she felt fine. “No one told me this part. You all said the senses were stronger, but no one said I would be like this. It’s awesome.” She stopped exactly as she wanted to, facing Aro, and was once more taken aback by how clearly he loved her. How plainly he adored her. 

“ _Pensato per questa vita.*”_ He murmured softly. 

“Aro,” She warned without heat. “I wasn’t reborn with the ability to speak Italian.”

“No, but you were reborn into _exactly_ what you were always meant to be.” He replied.

“Because I was made for you?” She asked, quirking her brow once more.

“No,” He shook his head, “you were made for this life. I was just the one lucky enough to be fated to live it beside you.”

“Shut up,” She grumbled, kissing him like it was an attack.

It was a throat-clearing down the way that had her pulled back, and she was suddenly quite grateful she couldn’t blush anymore. Demetri and Felix stood at the end of the hall, amused and patiently waiting.

“Master, Mistress.” Felix addressed them.

“Bella.” She reminded pointedly.

“We’re ready when you are.”

Bella frowned, then looked to Aro.

“Demetri was present near the end of the transition, you may not have noticed as it tends to be the most painful. I knew you would likely want a hunt when you were awake. I asked him and Felix to accompany us, to ensure you could be reigned in if things went… poorly.”

“Ah,” She nodded. “Well.”

What did she do with her hands? She didn’t need to do anything with them, she could keep them at her side, but she had been holding Aro’s. Would she hold it now, in front of the guard? Would that be a thing?

“This way,” Demetri gestured, and Bella followed, Aro at her side. “Master, if you didn’t wish-”

“I’ll go with you,” Aro said. “I don’t wish to leave her just yet.”

~*~

They didn’t even make it to Venice.

Heading through Volterra on foot had been difficult but not impossible. The humans that milled about them had smelled both divine and repulsive, things Bella had never noted before now clearly in the air and awful. Multiple chemical smells from various soups and cosmetics, food, drinks, bodies that had been out in the heat all day. It certainly helped ease the scratching in her throat.

She’d held on to Aro’s hand while he, Demetri, and Felix led her to the walls around it. It was nothing to leave the city, of course, and no one seemed to even notice four people leaving the confines on foot.

No one saw them taking off at a run impossible for a human.

Bella had relished it, the running without tripping. The speed. The seeing everything. She loved it so much that she ended up overtaking the others, letting go of her lover’s hand to race past them, Demetri hot on her tail if only because of his tracking skills. She’d headed for the mountain, stayed near the road but out of sight, following it to where they meant to go.

That’s when it happened.

She stopped suddenly as a scent unlike anything she had ever smelled in her whole life caught her attention.

Before anyone could stop her, she went to the edge of the trees and watched as a human that smelled so much like the lingering scent from Aro’s room crouched down to change a flat tire on the mountain road. No one was around, they hadn’t even seen a car for miles. Just this human, their car, and a tire iron.

She watched for a moment, head tilted, listening to their heart as it sped and slowed with effort. A part of her mind was amazed she felt no kinship to this creature. Because that’s what they were, now, just creatures. At least the ones she didn’t know. She thought of her dad and found the foggy memory of him didn’t seem to equate this person cursing their poor luck. No one she recalled from her past life did. They were in a separate category - like a pet would be - and this was simply dinner.

One moment, they nearly had the last bolt loose, next they struggled ineffectually in Bella’s hold as she bit their neck and drank.

While the human smelled good, Bella had to admit that the taste was a bit of a letdown. Plain. Maybe a little sweet, perhaps a touch salty. Nothing that she could imagine losing her damn mind over. But it did satisfy the thirst, and she drank the human down until there was nothing more to it.

“Well done,” Demetri said as Bella dropped the body.

“Thanks?” She said as she looked at the human on the forest floor. “What do we do with it?”

“Normally we burn it,” Demetri said. “But here? We could probably leave it. Someone will think an animal mauled it. Or, maybe an animal will. There’s always a little blood left we can’t get to.”

Bella nodded, then glanced around, trying to taste the air in case there was something nearby.

“Come on,” Demetri said with a tilt of his head. “Master Aro and Felix are about a mile east of here. They split off when you did. Master Aro will be quite disappointed that he didn’t get to see this himself.”

“Bet he would be.” She agreed as they moved, meeting up with the other two in a matter of seconds.

Aro looked her over, and Bella glanced down to see if maybe she somehow got blood on her clothes, or tore them, and found nothing.

“How was it?” He asked her.

Bella shrugged. “Alright, I guess?”

“She was a natural,” Demetri said as he stepped up to Aro and offered his hand. 

Aro eagerly took it, clasping it, his eyes dancing a moment. 

“Seamless.” He agreed. “And you were right not to burn it, but perhaps we should drag it further in.”

“Consider it done,” Felix said with a boy of his head before disappearing.

Bella watched him go with an exasperated sigh. “I could have done it myself.”

“Yes, but it’s not your place,” Aro replied as if stating it was a clear night.

Bella’s jaw tensed, and she turned to Demetri. Without a word, he went off after Felix, and Aro watched him go with a touch of confusion.

Bella stepped up to him, took his hand. “I want to be with you.” She stated plainly. “But I’m not your… queen. Or whatever. I don’t want to be.”

“Bella, you’re my mate,” Aro replied. “If you stay, if you wish to be with me, that makes you of equal ranking to Athenodora. It makes you just one step down from myself.”

“Is that a law?” She asked defensively.

“It means that regardless of what you wish, you will be treated as a queen. The guard will respect you, they will obey you.”

“I don’t want that.” She said plaintively. “I want you, that’s it. It’s all I want from this deal. You. And… maybe your library.” She added, hoping for some levity.

Aro looked painfully confused, and she supposed she could understand why. It’s why Sulpicia had married him, for power. It’s probably the thing that attracted most of the vampires he’d had affairs with over the years. But the mere thought of sitting on a throne, of standing beside his and holding power over someone? It made her newly hardened skin crawl.

“Is it possible to just have you?” She asked, hopefully, squeezing his hand.

She startled to hear the cracks, and glanced between his hand and his face, catching his wince of pain before she promptly let go.

“Sorry.” She rushed to say.

“You’re newborn, _mia amata._ It’s a bit expected.” He then sighed, glancing around the forest. “I’m willing to compromise.” He said after a moment.

“I’m willing to listen.” Bella nodded once, hope bubbling up inside her.

“I will not announce you as anything but my mate. I’ll attach no title to you, and you can continue on this adorable mission of yours to correct every guard that dares call you mistress. But in turn, you will continue to wear your pendant while you live with us, and you will accept the respect that your position deserves.”

“But didn’t you say the color denotes rank? That the only one who still has one exactly like this is Caius’ wife?” She asked, touching the pendant where it hung around her neck, having not even realized it had been there still as its weight had been nothing.

“It merely says your my mate.” He countered. “Do you really think that any vampire not in the coven would have thought of a human as a leader of the Volturi? That you held any power at all should they have seen it?”

“Well, it did get me out of being eaten once.” She said nonchalantly, playing with the crest before she suddenly realized that she remembered Garrett clear as day. 

The way she could feel her face light up at the thought was in direct contrast to Aro’s thunderous, bloodthirsty expression.

“Who? Where? I want a name.” He demanded.

“Relax, he saw the crest and decided to chat instead of snack.” Bella shrugged, dropping her pendant and having her eye catch on the bracelets still on her wrist. If she breathed, the breath would have left her chest in a huff at the sight of them. The silver metal and coat of arms draped next to and across the leather band with the small, wooden wolf. 

Aro had redressed her. He’s put her together while she was changing. He could have stripped her of all identifiers that weren’t his. And yet he left those pieces where they were. The Cullens she could have understood his reason for keeping it there. They were essentially thought of as her secondary coven, her extended family. But the wolf?

She pounced him, knocking him back into a tree and causing it and them to fall to the ground as she kissed what might have been the breath out of him had they been alive. His kisses came from downturned lips, eager if not a little unsure. 

After a moment, she decided smaller kisses would be better, and placed them on his cheeks, his frown, the wrinkle of his forehead, all so soft and pliant and wonderful even if it was clear he’d no idea what brought on her sudden attack.

“I’m… quite unsure how to deal with your mood swings.” He confessed helplessly, gently attempting to push her off of him while she continued to pepper him with kisses. “Isabella.” He said when she wouldn’t relent. “Isabella!” He tried to sound put out and yet didn’t seem to have it in him to command her like he would anyone else, making Bella laugh as she finally stopped.

“You let me keep Jake’s gift.” She told him.

He frowned deeper. “I believe we had the conversation when you were still human. Twice.”

“Yes, but you could have taken it off. You could have told me it was somehow destroyed when I was changed. You could have taken away both my bracelets and I would have been none-the-wiser as to what happened to them.”

“I wouldn’t have done that to you,” He said, getting them to their feet. “I’ll not do anything to bring you misery with intention. I can’t say I won’t ever upset you, eternity is too long for such a promise.”

“I know.” She said. “But it means a lot. It means so much that you wouldn’t even think to. That you don’t want to take away any part of who am. Or, at least, you don’t want to take away any part of who I was except the mortality part. It means… so much.”

“Then perhaps you can understand why I want you to accept your place at my side. Even if it’s only by wearing the crest. I’ll not demand you even expect you to suddenly demure, to fall in line with the expectations of it. I just wish for you to wear it so all in our world know I am yours, and you mine. If you’ll allow it.”

“And this is the _only_ piece of jewelry you expect me to wear?” She asked as she narrowed her eyes, earning a chuckle from her mate.

“Yes, _mia amata_. It’s not to say it will be the only one I give you. There are a few other necklaces in the vault that would have looked wonderful on you the other night. Earrings that would compliment your complexion, perhaps a ring for a finger on your right hand.” He said, trailing his own fingers up and down her sides. 

“Are you trying to keep me around with the promise of shiny things?” She asked him, quirking her eyebrow.

“I’d like to think I know you well enough to know you would be far more tempted by the library, and perhaps a vehicle you could speed about with. That’s not to say I won’t try and bestow upon you a new trinket now and then. But mostly, I would hope you would stay with me because you wish to.”

She kissed him. “Alright.” She agreed. “I’ll wear the crest, but no one calls me ‘mistress’.” 

“I will vastly enjoy watching you command everyone to pay you no difference.”

“I won’t command, I’ll ask nicely.” She said with an edge to her tone that said she wouldn’t be so nice about it after a bit.

“As you say.” Aro conceded for the moment. “Now, this vampire that you spoke of.”

“It was nothing, really. I asked him to come out and talk once I was sure he’d seen the crest. Then he saw my Cullen crest, too. He was a friend of Carlisle’s.”

“Carlisle has many friends,” Aro said as casually as possible.

“Aro, let it go. You said it was protection, it worked.” Bella said firmly, taking his hand again. 

He didn’t look convinced but he gave a solitary nod in acquiescence. 

After a few seconds of silence, Demetri and Felix returned. 

“It’s been done.” The latter said.

“Thank you, Felix.” Aro nodded. “Shall we hunt again? Perhaps this time we make it to the city?”

~AB~

The man had touched her. 

Bella may have been more than capable of handling him herself, but Aro couldn’t help it. 

After a brief discussion, they decided to continue onward to Venice. It wouldn’t take them long, the night was young, and Bella had been quite stable _before_ she’d had her first meal. 

They parted from Demetri and Felix, allowing the pair to go off on their own since it became plain that Bella wasn’t about to turn feral. It also allowed them a moment together, very nearly like a romantic outing. There was a certain amount of amusement behind the idea that he was taking his lover out to dinner, walking hand in hand down the late-night streets of the city. 

Aro had watched her as they wandered, her wonder at everything overcoming her need to hunt. He let her take in their surroundings, realizing it was also her first time seeing it in general. 

Bella had let go of his hand to dart over to a street artist’s work graffitied on a wall when the man and his friends spotted her.

Aro recalled Bella being a magnet for trouble in her human life, and especially recalled the vile things that Edward had scared off quite early on in their acquaintance. These men were of the same vein. They saw her, but not Aro. He was used to blending into the shadows, to keeping his distance. These men thought Bella alone, and their lust was so evident Aro hadn’t needed any of the Cullens’ collective talents to know what was about to happen.

The one he was drinking now in an alley had been the worst. The handsiest. The other two, the ones who Bella had snapped the necks of after they followed her down the alley (likely thinking they were about to corner her) had simply been his followers. 

She’d seemed unsure what to do when they got her there. It was clear what she had wanted to do, Aro could see it simmering in her eyes. It was as though she was waiting for permission to do what she wanted, and seeing him bear his teeth and pounce the leader had been all the allowance Bella needed to snap the necks of his two friends.

Now she watched Aro drain the ring leader, curious as ever. Observing him, his technique, all with an undertone of appreciation that may benefit him later.

It wasn’t as though he wasn’t looking at her the same way.

Bella did look lovely with red eyes. She really, truly had been meant for this life. Her scars had faded into smooth marble, her hair seemed to take on an extra softness and fullness, but those were the only physical changes made to her. If a vampire didn’t have a perfect memory, he may have forgotten in centuries to come what she would have looked like as a human simply because it would be like this was always how Bella had been.

“I can’t tell you how often I tried to picture you like this when I was human.” She confessed. “I tried to picture the Cullens, too. But I had dreams of you biting me, and I don’t think you ever looked like this.”

He finished his meal then dropped the body. “I wouldn’t have. You weren’t prey.”

“I suppose not.” She said as he crossed the darkened alley to where she leaned against the wall. “Did you drink any of my blood?” She asked curiously.

“I had a taste.”

“Was I good?” She asked with a smirk.

“Unexpectedly so, but you were quite riddled with all the lovely chemicals that would have made you pliant and relaxed.”

She snickered. “I suppose I was.” 

“You should drink.” He said, indicating the men at her feet. 

She shrugged. “I suppose.”

“How are you not aching for more?” He asked, furrowing his brow as he took in his newborn mate who acted more like a vampire closer to Edward’s age then freshly changed. Even for one who had been prepared for the life, she was remarkably calm.

“It’s…” she bent down and picked one of them up. “It’s good, but everyone made it sound like this would be the best thing I have ever tasted.” She shrugged, then adjusted the dead man’s neck and bit. She’d have had to suck a little harder, what with his heart having stopped a few minutes before, but she managed without instruction.

Aro picked up the other, not letting blood go to waste, drinking him while watching Bella. 

When she finished, she tossed the drained corpse with the other first, swiping her thumb at the corner of her mouth. 

“How fascinating,” Aro said as he finished as well, adding the last on the pile. “Do you enjoy it?” At Bella’s frown, he clarified, “The hunting of a human.”

“I suppose.” Bella shrugged. “How do we…? I mean, how did you when you were visiting?”

“Depends, really.” He said, then noted the nearby sewer drain. “That will do without drawing attention.” He said, moving toward it and lifting the grate. Bella dragged each body over, tossing it in, the splash echoing up with each on. “We’ll not be able to come here for a bit. Not with Demetri and Felix also hunting.”

“So this wasn’t the norm,” Bella said as Aro returned the grate. “You guys really do have everyone brought to you.”

“It’s been the way we’ve done it for a few centuries.” He agreed.

“But what about cell phones? GPS? It’s a thing, now. Aren’t those things traceable? All the people going to visit Volterra and just vanishing?”

“Accidents happen,” Aro said casually as he took her hand and walked her out of the alley.

“Yeah, I get that.” She said lowly, too low for a human to hear should they pass by. “But it’s going to start to look really suspicious. More suspicious than a few missing people in major cities.”

“Thirty-six, _mia cara_. We are a coven of thirty-six with you now, we are not small.”

“I’m just saying, it’s something to consider.” Bella countered. “And we can run, we can drive, we can go anywhere in Europe. I mean, how often do we actually _need_ to feed? You went every two or three days, didn’t you?”

Aro considered it. “Depending, yes. I went a week at most. We can go a week before the thirst sets in, but the thirst makes us more vulnerable to the few threats that exist for us, as well as weakening our ability to control our bloodlust.” 

“Alright, so, say you stretch it to once a week. Fifty-two weeks. Thirty-six members at one hunt per week, that’s a thousand eighty-two. If you spread that out over Europe?”

“Triple it if it’s a week between feeds.”

“Fine, three times a week.” Bella countered, and Aro found himself laughing, shaking his head.

“You’re quite calculating, _mia amata_.” He noted, appreciating that there at least wasn’t going to be an argument regarding her natural prey.

“I’m just trying to justify the idea of bringing people in when the one law you don’t want broken ever is exposure. And it’s a thought that sort of lingered when I was still human. It wasn’t something I was really going to bring up but I had a lot of fun, and I can’t imagine just… sitting around and waiting like I ordered a pizza.”

“You’re thinking in the long term, taking in the advancement of the human world, their modern technology. You’re thinking like a leader.” He said, seeing her shake her head in his peripheral vision.

“No, just making a point,” Bella replied quickly and firmly before her mood changed to one of glee. “Hey! If I’m not trying to destroy the population then I guess there’s no harm starting my potential hobby of academia, right? Especially since I don’t sleep.”

“It does,” he agreed. “Though I do hope part of those sleepless studies will involve me.” 

She frowned. “Well, Italian is rather high on my list. I would like to be able to know everything you say to me. And French. And all the sciences I didn’t get to before. And Art. And-”

“You’re hurting my ego, Isabella, because I had not meant for my involvement to be academic.”

Her jaw snapped shut, and despite not needing to she blinked. And, he suspected, there would have been a blush if she’d been a human.

“Oh.” She said simply before a wicked grin began to twist at her lips. “Well. I suppose there’s that, too.”

~*~

Bella couldn’t stop laughing when the bed broke. It had rather ruined the mood, but it was also a beautiful sight to see. Her red eyes sparkled, venom coating them as if to say that had she still been human there would have been tears there. And it was such a musical sound, warming his chest, filling him with an incandescent affection as he watched her go on and on, the lack of need for oxygen allowing the amusement to go on until she was simply over it.

“I really hope you weren’t attached to this.” She said, pushing his hair behind his ear, fingers lingering on his neck.

“It was only a century or two old, hardly worth much.”

“It was an antique!” She protested, finally sitting up and resting against the wall, the headboard having fallen away an hour ago.

Aro scoffed. “Antique by age alone, the value was essentially nothing. It was a replacement for the last broken bed.” He replied dismissively.

“Right,” Bella’s smile fell a bit. “Because vampire strength. Beds… yeah. I … vaguely remember a story or two from the Cullens.”

He studied her face before hazarding a guess. “You’re a touch envious that there were others before you, and after Sulpicia.”

Bella scowled, likely disliking being caught out, but nodded. “I know I shouldn’t be. I’d hate for you to have been entirely lonely this whole time. I guess it’s just that you’re my only… ever, and-”

“Ever.” Aro cut her off. “As in you had never been intimate with anyone beforehand?”

She gave a bemused grin. “I’m only eighteen, you know.”

“Yes, I’m aware.” He said, shifting to sit beside her. “But I was under the impression from the thoughts I’d seen in recent years from humans that exploring one’s sexuality young was coming back into fashion. And I knew from Edward’s memories you were quite adamant that his notions were antiqued.”

“Doesn’t mean I ‘explored’ before you. Edward was my first everything up to a point.”

“Was that something you wished to … that is to say, would you want to experience other-”

“No!” She said firmly, cutting him off before he could voice an idea he actually loathed. “I’m not… it’s not that I’m jealous of you being more… you’re literally thousands of years old, it would be - was, actually - really stupid to think that you would spend all your unmarried time alone. And I’m not lamenting my lack of experience, except maybe that I first fell for a guy who would probably have kept me a virgin until I was a vampire. And given his thoughts on that, he’d have kept me a virgin forever. I just… I guess I thought maybe we were more… passionate.” She flailed in a very human way, gesturing about at the feathers and scattered cotton, the splinters, and boards that only held the vaguest shape of what they used to be. “I thought maybe this happened because it’s _us_ , not because of what we are.”

He leaned in and kissed her, lingering on her lips. “I have a broken bookshelf because of our passion. A dent in the wall shaped like me. Our clothes are in tatters and I’m sure anyone passing by will likely have thought I was trying to tame my newborn mate because of a very different sort of lust. Beds have been broken before, but none have gone to this level of destruction.”

He kissed her again, and again, tasting a confession on her tongue that he’d yet to hear from her. Hearing it in the catch of her breath which she didn’t need, seeing it in the way her lovely ruby eyes fell half shut. It was in the way she touched, and the way she responded to his touch. He could smell it on her skin, in her hair as she likely could with him. The complete acceptance of one another for what they were to each other. She had not given it voice, did not apply words, but it was there all the same.

She loved him, as much as he loved her. And while he wanted to hear it, the fact she could keep the words from him was what made the anticipation of her proclamation all the sweeter. He’d wait as long as he needed to for it.

But for now, he would bask in the physical demonstrations of her affection.

~AB~

Bella returned to the Aro’s room (or was it their room?) from the library. He’d shown her where it was before going to the throne room, informing her he would need to make an appearance now that it was known her transformation would be complete. She’d also spent hours there, but sensed that no one would go anywhere the room while she lingered. Wracked with sudden loneliness, Bella figured if she was going to be without company, she may as well do so in a space that at least had the scent of someone she cared about lingering about.

She had not expected to hear voices when she entered.

“I’m just saying,” A female voice said, Heidi if Bella’s memory served correctly. “The level of destruction-”

“She’s a newborn.” Demetri cut in pointedly.

“Yes, which is my point. This is not the result of some sort of frenzied coupling. It can’t be.”

“It was,” Bella said, knowing now that the vampires were on the floor above. She set the books she’d carried back with her on Aro’s desk, realizing quickly she would likely take it over and hoped that there wasn’t much more of a purpose to it than ornamental.

“Mistress.” Demetri greeted, amusement heavy in his tone. 

“Bella,” She corrected with a touch of annoyance. 

“I believe that was actually Demetri, mistress.” Felix said with cheek, and Bella couldn’t help but grin. 

The thought to go upstairs had barely finished running through her head when she was at the top, looking at the three of them gathered in the bedroom. Pieces of the old bed were shoved to the side, and the parts to the new bed were nearly all assembled. Bella could guess they hadn’t been there long, probably was asked to sneak in while she was out of the room.

The three were not dressed in that business casual way Bella recalled the Volturi favoring, but in dark denim and plain black shirts. Their silver crests were present, and in the open, and Bella had a moment to wonder if there were rumors of a cult living in the castle within Volterra.

“We apologize for the intrusion,” Demetri said seriously. “Given that Felix and I were the two you were most familiar with, we volunteered to aid in the replacement of the furniture. We hadn’t expected you to be here.”

“It’s fine,” Bella replied, only noticing now that the bookshelf had been replaced, though the Aro shaped dent was not fixed. “Do you need help? I mean, I get that we can just, yeah, but do you need it?”

Heidi looked completely flabbergasted, staring at Bella as though she’d grown a second head.

“I know, vampires don’t really need assistance, and there’s three of you, but…” She trailed off when she noted the three of them glancing at one another uncertainly. “It’s because I’m … me. Right?” She asked.

“It is,” Felix confessed when it seemed the other two wouldn’t. 

“Well, don’t… yeah, I’m just Bella. I’m not… yeah.” She stuttered, her hand flailing about. 

“You could help me gather the debris,” Heidi suggested, the two men looking aghast at her. She ignored them. “It’s clean up and assembly like this where our strength and speed would work against us. Cause more damage than we started with. We need to go at human speed.”

“I could use the practice with that.” Bella readily admitted, stepping further into the room and noting the garbage bags. “So, there’s no, like, Volturi janitors? Handymen?” She asked as she grabbed one, beginning to stuff the bits of debris inside.

“We do what’s needed,” Felix said as he and Demetri returned to their task. “It’s rare that manual tasks must be done.”

“And it’s not as though there would be much to clean, given what we are.” Demetri added in.

“I suppose.” Bella agreed, having really not thought much about why homes got dirty when she was human. “And you volunteered.”

“As said, you know us,” Demetri said. “And you are newborn. Despite how tame you seem to be, there was no telling how you might react to a strange scent, or a strange vampire in your rooms.”

“Really?” She asked. When she only got nods, Bella let the subject drop despite the questions still lingering in her mind. Instead, after too long of a silence when it was all she heard since Aro left her earlier, she turned to Heidi. “I had a bit of a run-in with your former coven mate.”

She glanced up, completely perplexed for a moment before her face turned into a disgusted scowl. “Victoria?”

“Yeah, she tried to kill me a few times.” Bella said with a nervous chuckle.

Heidi frowned. “That doesn’t sound like her. She didn’t chase, she hid. And ran, the coward.”

Bella peeked up at her, seeing the distaste still in Heidi’s perfect features. “My ex killed her mate. She tried to kill me for revenge. Created a newborn army to try and do it.”

“Was that the reason behind it?” Demetri asked with casual interest. 

“Yeah,” Bella said.

“Did Master Aro burn her with her little trope?” Heidi asked with a lilt of hope.

“Actually, I lit her hair on fire when she tried to kill me.” Bella said with a touch of smugness that had the other vampires still. She glanced up and shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly aiming to do it, it was a happy accident.”

“Huh,” Felix said, a dose of respect in his tone. 

“Good,” Heidi said decidedly. “I hated that bitch and her sister.”

“Can’t say I was fond of her either.” Bella agreed, and it felt like a victory to get that tiny smirk on Heidi’s face.

~AB~

It had been a week since Bella’s transformation had been completed. 

A week, and not once had she fallen into the bloodlust so typical for a newborn. It had concerned Aro at first, as even the tamest would normally go mad at the scent of human. She really didn’t seem to care too much for blood but also didn’t refuse her natural inclination. It was simply nourishment, something to keep her alive, so to speak. If he encouraged her to leave the books behind and had her focus on the task without becoming too distracted by her new vampiric sense, she would hunt with little to no consideration with what it was she was seeking.

Bella hadn’t been down with the rest during the last group of humans for Aro to know if her indifference was real, but then again he hadn’t been down there, either. 

They’d been preoccupied.

She’d been a touch self-conscious after the new furniture had been brought in, and it only took a moment’s contact with Felix to understand why. While Aro was displeased at the idea that Heidi had been gossiping about their affairs, Bella hadn’t seemed to be offended if the memories Felix had of her interrupting the trio’s conversation were anything to go by. He’d warned Heidi, of course, that it wouldn’t happen again, but it was all he said on the subject.

He did figure that was the reason for Bella’s more subdued actions when it came to intimacy. Subdued, but certainly not lacking. She was just passionate in different ways, more conscious of her strength when it came to their surroundings. With him less so, but he hadn’t minded at all. And it certainly didn’t make him think her love for him had waned. If anything it allowed Aro to sense it that much stronger.

And he missed it right now. For since it became clear she wasn’t about to escape the castle and slaughter the city at any point, Aro had returned to his duties. It had been dreadfully dull. There had been nothing. Days would pass with not so much as a disgruntled vampire coming to complain about another closing in on their favorite feeding ground. A relentless cycle of sitting on their thrones moving on occasion, and mostly keeping quiet until they would leave the room for their various diversions.

And if Aro’s diversion happened to be his mate, then so be it.

There was something wonderful about merely being in her presence as she combed over various texts. How when he walked into his study or the library he wouldn’t be greeted with a fond hello or a kiss but a question. She hadn’t seemed to be able to keep her focus on anything too long, small tangents that led her down many paths of information. She’d explained to him at one point that it was how she came to know what Edward was because she wouldn’t stop until she understood.

He’d just started to wonder what topic Bella would have gotten caught up today when there was the sound of three sets of footsteps heading toward the throne room.

“Masters,” Felix greeted with a nod as the doors opened. “We have a guest.” 

“Do we?” Aro asked, standing up. He beckoned for whomever it was to be brought in, and Demetri appeared inside with Edward Cullen at his side.

Aro’s brows shot to his hairline. “Well, this is a surprise.”

“Come to ask us to kill you again?” Caius jeered.

Edward glanced uneasily at him before meeting Aro’s eyes. “I’ve come to see Bella.”

There was a shift in the air, the guard becoming alert, sensing something about to happen, or perhaps only hoping. 

Bella had only been in Demetri, Heidi, and Felix’s company aside from Aro’s own. No one approached her, and she had yet to come to the throne room since her change. He knew that many believed she was locked away like Athenodora. Others thought they had caught her not-yet familiar sent around the halls and avoided her out of fear or respect. 

“You’re a touch early, I would wager. A few months, I would guess since she’s only been changed a week.” Caius replied disdainfully.

Aro held up a hand. “Actually, perhaps if our young friend wishes to see his former flame, we should let him.”

Felix and Demetri exchanged a glance, and then the latter was gone.

Edward watched him go, then peeked at Aro who could only smile smugly at the boy standing a few feet away from the dias.

It was a couple of minutes of heavy silence later that there was the sound of a pair of vampires making their way to the throne room.

“This way, mistress.” Demetri said, and Aro heard Bella groan.

“Bella, just Bella. None of the other stuff.” She replied before Demetri opened the doors for her, leading her inside.

Even clad in modern clothes, so casual compared to everyone else in the room, Bella’s second life brought refinement to her features and her posture. No one would question her position at his side should she ever decide to take what was rightfully hers. He noted a few of those watching were a touch horrified at her casual dress, Jane and Alec most of all.

Bella of course paid them no mind as she went right to Aro.

“ _Sì caro_?” She said as sarcastically as she could possibly inflict with a barely learned accent and a slight uptick of her lips.

“Ah, you’re getting better. _Parlerai la mia lingua in men che non si dica, mia cara.**_ ” He teased her.

She opened her mouth, and then shut it. “I only learned that bit.” She admitted after a moment. “And, that you have been calling me ‘my dear’ since before anything.” She added with a playful swat, her eyes sparkling as her lips ticked slightly higher.

“I knew what you were to me.” He said with a shrug. “We have a guest.”

He watched Bella turn and zero in on Edward whom Aro had been ignoring for the time being to build up the anticipation of seeing his reaction to his former singer.

He quite nearly snarled at the awe and longing in Edward’s golden eyes, at the way the boy took Bella in with adoration. Aro had been hoping for hurt, confusion, perhaps even understanding that her being his singer was the only pull he had on her, and she on him.

He then glanced at his mate and was rushed with overwhelming relief when she seemed only mildly pleased but otherwise indifferent to the young man.

“Aro was right,” Edward confessed to the room at large, which helped a bit, but not as much as Aro would have hoped. “You were made for this life.”

“It’s seeming that way.” She agreed with a shrug. “I know you said you’d come see me, but-”

“I needed the space.” Edward said with a slight cringe, and Aro very nearly darted over to take his hand to understand what that meant.

Bella nodded in understanding, then turned to Aro. “Do you need me for anything else?” She asked, reaching out and touching his hand.

“No,” Aro assured, turning his hand to take her fingers in his hold.

“Then do you mind if…?” She asked, gesturing at the doors with her free hand.

“Not at all,” He assured as Bella stepped away from him. Because he couldn’t help himself, Aro added, “Although I would like to point out that entertaining guests would be considered a duty of yours if you-”

“No.” Bella said firmly, turning toward the door and beckoning Edward to go with her.

“You’re being commanding.” Aro taunted because he couldn’t resist. “As would be your right.”

Bella stuck her hand in the air, flashing him a rude gesture he couldn’t help but delight in. And it stayed there until the doors closed behind her and Edward.

The room remained silent in their horror, Aro guessing they were probably wondering how she managed to get away with every single thing that transpired if they weren’t too curious as to her general tameness.

And then a sound that hadn’t been heard for thousands of years broke through the silence, which just made every vampire in the guard that much more confused in regard to what happened.

Even Aro wasn’t sure he was hearing the sound right and had to look over his right shoulder to confirm that Marcus was, in fact, laughing. 

When he realized Aro was watching him, he said simply, “I like her.” Before he let out a few more chuckles and settled with a smile on his face.

“I’m rather fond of her myself.” Aro agreed, ignoring the waves of fury rolling off of Caius as he settled back on his throne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Designed for this life  
> **You'll be speaking my language in no time, my dear
> 
> We're going to start seeing the shadows of what's going to come in the next chapter. I will promise this: Edward's not going to start mooning again. That's not what his presence is about.  
> Thank you all, again, for all your support. Until next time


	25. Chapter 25

The sun glinted off their skin as Bella and Edward stepped out into what was essentially a courtyard. It was gorgeous, the plants providing a heady scent that would have masked any human smells coming up from the city. There was a fountain in the middle that had little fish swimming in the base, and it amused Bella to no end that she could hear the swishing of their tails clear across the garden. She led Edward there, to the far end where the cypress trees grew. There was a stone bench there that would have likely been uncomfortable had she been human, and while she knew they didn’t need to sit she found she disliked finding herself standing around without moving. 

“You seem to be causing quite a stir.” Edward mused as they sat.

Bella frowned in the direction they came from. “It was my first time since I was human being among them if I’m honest.”

“Aro’s keeping you secluded?” Edward frowned, and Bella shook her head.

“I’m doing that to myself. I don’t like the attention. And I hate being called mistress.”

Edward’s eyes fell to her crest. “So you’re not a member of the guard, then?” He asked, meeting her eye again.

“No,” Bella replied. “I’m….” She huffed. “If Aro were here, he’d say I was his mate, and thereby a sorta ruler in my own right. But I’ve never seen Caius’ wife, and no one ever talks about her, so I have to wonder what his push for me to be all… queenish is.”

Edward smiled in a warm, familiar way that had flight instincts surge through Bella, making her tense. She knew he said he would back off, she knew he couldn’t possibly be so stupid to go back on that now, but she had long associated that smile with Edward’s devotion and she didn’t like it one bit.

Before he could say something to possibly ruin the moment, she asked, “How is everyone?”

The look faded away, just as Bella had hoped, and Edward frowned. “Well. Alice still seems troubled from time to time, avoids letting me hear what’s going on. Rosalie and Emmett left for a little while just before I came here.”

“Bree?” Bella asked.

“She’s… adjusting. No slip-ups, but we aren’t sure she’s ready to start school. And then there’s wondering if we can really stay there for another three years while she finishes. But… there’s Jake to consider.”

“Jake?” Bella asked incredulously. “Why Jake?”

“It’s not… something… you should maybe call Alice, ask her to fill you in.” Edward hedged, and Bella almost called him out on it when she heard the doors to the garden open. 

Jane and Alec walked out but stayed away. They watched Bella and Edward, though it was probably more accurate to call it staring with the way they didn’t move.

“Jane thinks you played Aro somehow,” Edward said so softly it would have been impossible for the pair to hear them. “She doesn’t trust that you’re not going to run off with me, given that I was at your side on the battlefield. Alec is unsure, but he’s not willing to take chances.”

“I guess they never talked to Demetri or Felix,” Bella smirked, then a thought dawned on her. “Wait, you can’t hear my thoughts?” 

Edward frowned as though he was straining to listen. “No.” He said as he shook his head. “Why? What were you thinking?”

“Just then? The frailty of two-hundred-year-old oak furniture and how much I’d like to break some again.” She said in a nonchalant way all while remembering exactly how the first bed broke anyway. It made her smile.

“So… you’re happy? Here, with him?” Edward said after a second, seeming unsure if he wanted to know.

“I’m,” Bella pursed her lips. “I want Aro.” She replied. “I want him, and I’ll take all the other bits that go with him. It’s still too early to know if I like it  _ here _ . I miss you guys, though. All of you.”

“They’ll be happy to hear you’re doing well.” Edward grinned sadly. “Carlisle said he was very, very certain you’d be content here, but Esme, Emmett, and I worried.”

“Rose?” Bella smirked, guessing the answer.

“Was actually fairly certain you’d be happier here,” Edward replied, surprising Bella. 

“Huh,” Bella said, turning out to face the garden and catching the twins still staring. “Well, that’s something I suppose.”

“She never hated you,” Edward said. “She just never really liked you. She didn’t understand, either, why you wanted this. She’d have given anything to be able to live a human life, especially with Emmett.”

“If I could have given my humanity to her in a trade I would have.” Bella said. “This life… it’s only been a week, and yet it’s  _ been _ a week and I can’t get over everything! The sights, the smells, the not falling all over myself. I ran beneath the sea to Croatia the other day! It’s amazing, I just… I can’t imagine not having this life.”

“Wait a hundred years.” Edward teased.

“But would it really make a difference? Aro’s been around for thousands and he still loves his immortality.” She countered. 

Edward opened his mouth but stopped, deflating. “And you’ll have each other.” He agreed.

“I’m sorry,” Bella winced. “I realize now that, well, now… is that why you came? Because you’re alone there? Bree couldn’t have found someone already.”

He winced again. “Not really.” He agreed. “And I wanted to make sure you were alright. That the transition went as smoothly as possible.”

“It burned,” Bella admitted. “But every time it started to be unbearable I would hear Aro, or feel his touch. Even if I couldn’t really focus on what he was saying, it was an anchor. That others had gone through it and came out the other side, and that he told me everything that was going to happen.”

Edward nodded, then the doors opened again. 

Bella looked up and smiled as she saw Aro coming out. Jane and Alec bowed, their greetings muted. They waited until Aro started toward Bella and Edward before they rushed back inside.

Bella was on her feet by the time Aro was in front of her, and she grinned up at him.

“Checking up on me?” She asked.

“Thought I would inform you that I believe the guard to be somewhere between in awe and terrified of you.” Aro smiled at her. “You made Marcus laugh.”

“Did I?” She smiled, feeling a swell of pride and warmth within her. “Jane thinks I came here to have a torrid affair with Edward.”

“Heidi has been discreet since our conversation, I see.” Aro said, and then he glanced at Edward. “I heard you had a visit from one of your so-called cousins.”

Edward nodded as he stood up, then stuck his hand out for Aro to take. 

Bella watched the pair of them as their eyes locked, a two-way communication quiet to all but one another.

“I appreciate the thought,” Aro said before he let go of Edward’s hand. “Will you be staying with us long?”

“No,” Edward said with a quick shake of his head. “No, I only thought to come see how Bella was, make sure things were fine.” Edward replied despite the fact that Aro likely had seen all this in Edward’s mind. “I thought I would pop over to London on my way back, enjoy the sights before returning to Washington.”

“Send everyone my love when you get back.” Bella said as Edward turned to leave.

He nodded once, and then he was gone.

After a moment, likely when Edward was out of range, Aro said, “He’s happy you’re happy, but is a bit wistful that you found it with another.”

“I hope he finds someone.” She said. 

“In terms of immortality, he’s young yet. And not all can be as lucky as you to find their match while still human.”

She hummed in agreement, then turned and pressed her face to his chest in the same way she had when she still had a beating heart. Bella breathed deep, tasting his scent in the air, made stronger with the cypress trees around them. Her hands moved as if the had a mind of their own, inching their way up to his neck, into his hair.

“Isabella,” He warned in a sing-song sort of way.

She groaned, stomping her foot. “This is taking some getting used to.” She admitted, stepping back to look at him while giving herself space. “You told me vampires feel more than humans, I just wasn’t expecting  _ this _ .”

“Much as I would greatly enjoy allowing you to feel as freely as you like, I was informed someone was expected to arrive from Australia within the hour. Given our previous encounters, it won’t be enough time.”

“Later, then?” Bella asked hopefully.

“Later,” Aro assured, kissing her just a touch too passionately for Bella to be convinced he wasn’t planning on telling the Australian to wait a bit. But then he pulled away, half-turned, and offered his arm to lead her back inside.

At least there was the promise of later, and a book on sixteenth-century vampire myths to hold her over for a bit.

~*~

When her phone rang, the instinct to simply answer it had caused her to pick it up. Thankfully it was rugged enough that her slightly too strong press of the answer button wouldn’t do lasting damage but Bella still felt it crack under her thumb.

“Hello,” She answered, still wincing at the near break of her phone.

There was a long pause. “Bella?” Charlie asked, and she was cringing all over again.

“Hi, dad.” She replied, cursing the fact that if there was any way to make herself sound more like she had before the change, no one taught her. 

“You sound different,” Charlie said, sounding like he wanted to be suspicious but couldn’t find a reason for it.

“Must be picking up on the accent already,” She tried to laugh it off, then remembered her laugh likely sounded different too and stopped. “How are things?”

“Good, good. Just… I hadn’t really heard from you in a couple weeks.”

“Busy with studies, the time difference,” Bella shrugged. She didn’t mention that her dad hadn’t actually crossed her mind all that much, either. Add to that never needing to sleep, Bella had lost track of days easily enough. “How’s everyone?”

“Everyone’s good. I’ve been, umm, seeing Sue lately. Clearwater, that is.”

“Have you really?” Bella asked with a smirk. “Are you telling me Seth and Leah are going to be my step-siblings now?”

It amused her that she could hear Charlie’s pulse pick up over the line. It made her throat a little scratchy, and she ignored it for the time being. She was sure that she’d be due for a hunt soon.

“It’s… too soon to tell. Listen, Bells. Your mom called.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she said something about you forgetting something in your room there? And… that she’s having a baby?”

“Yeah, that she is. What did she say I forgot?” Bella asked, knowing everything she brought with her was here with her in Italy, including the blanket her mother made her. She hadn’t taken it out of the case, the sentiment wonderful still, but there was an odd feeling of detachment.

“She wouldn’t say, just wanted the address where you were.”

“Did you give it to her?”

“I never had it.” Charlie said dismissively. “I had a feeling whatever it was couldn’t have been too important for you to forget.”

“I’ll write her a letter.” Bella shrugged. “She’ll have the return address that way.” She could hear someone coming up the stairs to the study, and so said, “Listen, Dad, I gotta go.”

“Yeah, probably need your sleep.” Charlie said, and Bella looked out the window to see it was, in fact, night.

“Yeah. Talk to you soon.” She said before she ended the call just as there was a knock on the door. 

Frowning, Bella zipped over, opening the door and was entirely uncertain what to do next.

“Good evening, Isabella.” Marcus greeted warmly. “Your mate and our coven brother are rather wrapped up in a game of chess, heatedly discussing what should be done with the Australian matter. I thought perhaps you’d like to take a walk with me.”

It wasn’t needed for Bella to blink, but she found the urge to do those human mannerisms surged to the forefront of her mind every time she didn’t know what to do with herself or how to react. 

“Okay,” She said, stepping out of the rooms and followed Marcus down the stairs.

“Have you been hiding?” He asked her casually as they made their way through the castle. “It’s been a few days since your rather unorthodox introduction to the coven.”

“Not really on purpose,” Bella replied. “I just don’t want people treating me like I’m better than them.”

“Yes,” Marcus said wistfully. “I once knew someone who very much felt the same.”

Bella glanced up at him, then around them to see they were alone. “Didyme?” She guessed quietly.

Marcus’ eyes lit up at the same time they grew sad, old. “He spoke of her. I had wondered if he would.”

“He told me about her the first night we met again.” Bella nodded. “And I’m sorry. I know the loss isn’t fresh, but-”

Marcus lifted his hand to stay her apology. “You do not need to apologize, Isabella, though I appreciate the sentiment from you. I miss her terribly, all the time, every day. But what a lot of people forget is that it wasn’t only my loss that day, but Aro’s as well.”

“We haven’t talked about her much,” Bella admitted. “Only that he regrets her death fiercely.”

“He shouldn’t. He was not the one who did it.” Marcus led Bella out to the roof of the Volturi castle, the sounds and the smells of the city making their way up to them. Marcus breathed deep, closing his eyes and smiling faintly. “I so rarely leave the confines of the castle.” He said before turning to Bella. “Aro once told me you were inquisitive. And given the smell of books about you, I would say that remains true. I feel as though there are some things about this life, particularly the life you’ll embark on at his side, that Aro wouldn’t know to tell you. Would you like to hear them?”

“Only if you want to tell me,” Bella said, getting an idea where this was going.

Marcus smiled a serene and gentle thing that was tinged with a heavy sadness. “Then allow me to begin...”

~*~

_ The story begins in Greece.  _

_ I was a nomad, preferring not to stay in any one place for overly long. Covens tended to fight for territory much more frequently and early those days, and as the ancients who would have been the first had either burned or petrified, there was no distinct authority to settle the matter. _

_ In my journey, I came across a young vampire, just freshly coming out of his newborn stage. Aro. I asked if he would like to join me, but he had hesitated. He’d had a sister, quite young, still human. He wanted to ensure she would be okay and did not want to wander far from her. It was rather charming to see a vampire holding on to a familial love after their transformation, and he was quite dedicated to her. So, I chose to stay with him instead. We would wander during the day in the cover of trees, in shadows. Our skin attracted too much attention, and we had seen a vampire or two venture out and draw the attention of humans who thought them monsters. It wasn’t known then to us that we were completely immune to most things but fire, and we had seen enough poor souls not think through their actions and found themselves on the wrong side of the flame.  _

_ I hadn’t met her while she was human. Aro’s ability to be near her was likely only brought on because she was his true sister. When he spoke of her, though, I could see their connection and I looked forward to meeting the one who brought Aro so much joy. He had told me he intended to change her, both for his inability to part with her, as well as the possibility she might have gifts as we did. _

_ Didyme, of course, knew of her brother, of what he’d become. She also kept it quiet, acting as though he was completely dead as it was thought. So fond of one another were they that when Aro asked if she wanted to be like him, she could think of nothing she wanted more. Their parents were disinterested at best, and there were too many suitors vying for her hand. So when she came of age, Aro swept her away and changed her. _

_ When I first laid eyes on Didyme, she was mid change. It didn’t stop me from seeing the immediate connection to us. I had seen the bonds between mates over the years and knew without a doubt that that was what I was seeing. _

_ I told Aro before her change was complete, and I was grateful that he accepted it. We were already like brothers, this would just make us more so.  _

_ Didyme was as beautiful in soul as she was in feature. Her gift was to make those around her utterly happy, and she only made Aro and I more so. _

_ The problem, of course, came later. _

_ Those smaller, feuding covens we avoided had banded together. They became the Romanian coven, and as they were the largest coven known, they held power. It was common, of course, for there to be a ruling body among humans at the time. And given that humans outnumber vampires to a great degree, it wasn’t odd to have one ruling body for our entire species. _

_ The problems came when they flaunted who and what they were. _

_ Humans believed them to be gods and would offer sacrifices to them in the form of their own people. Most were drank, barely any were turned. And their numbers being what they were, the offerings were large indeed. At one point he had heard that twins were considered a blessing, as a family had only expected one child, and was secure in not needing to give them up.  _

_ We were not a large coven, Aro, myself, Didyme, and a chap named Eugenius who found Aro after he was turned. But even our small, wandering group had begun having trouble finding humans we could hunt. Villagers who heard tales of vampires and would not allow themselves to be sacrificed had begun lighting fires around their entry points, torches really. They slept closer to fires than was needed, the knew roughly how to defend themselves. And we’d seen enough vampires end up in flames to know that humans would find a way to stop and end us. _

_ It’s also how the stake mythology came into play, for they would stop the change by killing the bitten one through the heart, ceasing the transition. _

_ What was also troubling was seeing the extent to which the humans were being wiped out, the slow spread of it all. It reached everywhere because there were no laws that stated there should be a limit, or movement, or any need for secrecy. _

_ We met Caius and Athenodora as they had been driven away from where they had wanted to reside due to a lack of prey. Animals were always an option, of course, but they were not as appealing, and it was believed they made us weaker. Caius, in particular, sneered at the very notion. But he was of the same mind as us in that it needed to be stopped. That order had to be had, or else we would end our species. Either the humans would destroy us all, or we would end up starving ourselves to madness or petrification. _

_ We in turn sought out other, like-minded individuals - many who had gifts like ours - and formed an army to take control of our kind. _

_ It was a battle of a hundred years or so, but finally the Romanian coven was gone, their leaders fleeing. _

_ Many of those who were with us in those days are gone now. They petrified, or fought a battle they couldn’t win. Some even went so far as to simply have us kill them for they did not want to carry on. But they were the ones who would know that it is us three that sit on the thrones because we were the ones who raised the army. Who used our gifts strategically. Aro would see the thoughts of those we captured before they were killed. I could see the weak links, those who were not so loyal to the Romanians. Caius had a thirst for battle, an unrelenting drive to slaughter, and thought he may have been a soldier before his change.  _

_ We were very firm in our laws and gave no leeway when someone broke them. Aro would know their intention. I could see how much they loathed us. Caius came up with many varied and interesting ways for an execution to prove a point. The gifts of those that stayed with us gave others a feeling of foreboding. Our reputation made us fearsome, and it wasn’t long before we weren’t being treated as simply leaders, but kings. And in turn, our wives became queens. _

_ Athenodora was always a rather indifferent soul. Sulpicia, when she joined us, quite enjoyed the life. She enjoyed the status being Aro’s wife gave her, even if she didn’t always enjoy the relationship. _

_ Didyme had grown disenchanted with the notion quite quickly. She tried to make the best of it, of course, because she brought so much happiness to those around her. And she could be with her brother, who loved and cared for her, protected her when I couldn’t. There were many who wanted to be near her because she was very much like a drug, some to the point of going mad when they were eventually dragged away from her.  _

_ She confided in me that she wanted to leave, at least for a little while. I’d give her anything, and so I had begun planning our departure from Volterra.  _

_ I do not know who heard us speaking of it. I don’t know how our plans got back to Aro. All I know is that when I met with him the night of the terrible event to speak with him, he was angry. He believed we were to abandon him, that we would leave without a word, and I without a suitable replacement. That I would tear our family apart so callously. And he warned me, told me he had instructed the guard to stop our escape by any means necessary. That causing our beloved Didyme a bit of pain would be worth ensuring we would not leave. _

_ I’d calmed him, talked sense into him, made him see reason. We had only just come to a point in which he wished us well, and we were once again amicable when one of the guard rushed to us and told us of what was happening. _

_ We were too late to stop what was happening. Aro had been enraged, barely allowing a moment of skin contact before heads and limbs went flying. No one could be burned in the same fire as Didyme, and they were tossed in a pyre separately, and with little fanfare. A dozen guards were lost in that first batch and anyone who knew of the plans followed until I asked him to stop. I had lost my heart, and half my soul, I did not want to lose my brother to madness as well. _

  
  


_ ~*~ _

“Many people believe me bound to him by Chelsea, and in many ways, they would be right,” Marcus said in a tired voice, as though recalling the events of hundreds of years ago took a bigger tole than he would like to let on. “I asked her to strengthen my bond with Aro, and on occasion ask Corin is she would kindly make me content once more. It never lasts, though.”

Bella looked at the ancient vampire with stinging eyes likely glistening with venom. She didn’t fight down the impulse to hug him, and it seemed Marcus had not expected it. She felt his awkward movement, the pat on her back, and she wanted to sob and laugh all at once.

“I don’t even know what to say,” She confessed. “I’m just… I feel so…. And you don’t want me to say it.”

“I know, Isabella, I know,” Marcus assured. “Believe it or not, I could see our own bond strengthen as I told you of Didyme. It assures me it was the right thing to do.”

She shook her head as she leaned away, rubbing at her face as if to clear the tears that would never come. 

“How could they have done that? If she made everyone so happy, how could they rip her apart?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed wearily. “But the consequences of those actions have had long-reaching effects. Our reign has become fear-based, as word got around that we could twist anything to our liking. That Aro was prone to violence on a whim, for any reason he sees fit. That so much as the wrong thought will land someone in the fire. Sulpicia left us to go to Greece where she watches over the covens. Athenodora rarely sees anyone but Corin, and is made content with her situation.”

“I did know much of that,” Bella admitted.

“I’m glad, but while this just seems like a simple statement, it’s also a warning.” Marcus cautioned, growing serious once more. 

“I’m not afraid of him or what he is.” Bella assured. “I know what he’s capable of, he’s told me.”

“It’s more what others will try and do to you. You caused a scene before in the throne room. Most, I believe, found it rather amusing. There are some, however, who believe you need to be properly put in your place. That Aro allowing you to behave in such a way is in poor taste.” With a smirk, Marcus added, “personally I believe it was the metaphorical fresh air we’ve been needing, considering our youngest vampire was five hundred years old before you came along.”

Bella snickered a moment before sobering. “So, watch my back.” She said in understanding.

“And, perhaps, despite your apparent feelings, act as though you belong at Aro’s side.” Marcus added, putting a reassuring hand on Bella’s shoulder. She glanced at it, then frowned.

“Does he touch you? Aro? Does he read your thoughts?”

“He hasn’t since Didyme’s death. Not mine, nor Caius’.” He replied. 

“So he’ll never know what you really think of him.” Bella nodded, her heart heavy for the man she loved.

“For what it’s worth,” Marcus said very softly. “I never held him to blame. I wish he would have chosen his words better, but no one could fake the devastation he had at her loss.”

Bella leaned against him, head on his arm, and remained quiet. She could hear someone coming toward them, but being outside had her focus in disarray. 

She wasn’t terribly surprised when Aro arrived on the roof with them. She was, however, caught off guard by the door being slammed open, splintering off the wall and falling to the castle roof in shatters. Bella was alarmed, but Marcus seemed as unbothered as ever.

“I take it Caius won the argument?” He asked in his bored tone.

“More I got played into going to Australia myself.” Aro growled. “He agreed we should investigate, that we can not take the word of the leader who did not have any first-hand experience with the problem. Merely came here to ensure his own head would remain on his shoulders.”

“What’s the situation?” Bella asked, glancing between the two leaders.

“A possible immortal child.” Marcus answered. 

“There are feuding covens in the north.” Aro explained further. “One went to our man there to report it, so he could inform us. One of the members of the other coven is very adamant that the child is not immortal. It’s now up to us to make the determination.”

“Isn’t it better that you do?” Bella asked, a touch perplexed. “You can tell who’s lying.”

“Yes, but I believe I was the one who went to Seattle to settle the newborn issue.” Aro countered.

“You volunteered.” Marcus countered with a touch of slyness. 

Aro merely shot him a look that spoke volumes of their sibling-like relationship. 

“Can I go with you?” Bella asked before she had a chance to think it through. When they both looked at her without expressing much emotion, she added, “I get to see other places. And you were very much for me doing my part.” She hedged, hoping to satisfy both of them. When they still didn’t answer she grew nervous. “Or, I could stay here….”

“Do you really want to go?” Aro asked curiously, glancing at Marcus in a way that said he believed him to be the root of Bella’s decision.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean want to.” Bella said honestly.

After a moment, Aro nodded. “We’ll be leaving in a few hours, once the jet is ready to go. I’ll have Felix, Demetri, and Jane come with us.”

“Not Alec?” Bella asked.

“No, he’ll be better served here should there be a need for defense.” Aro replied decisively. “And we’ll need to have you fitted for a cloak.”

Bella blinked. “Sorry… a what?”

  
  


~*~   
  


“This is ridiculous,” Bella grumbled as she looked at herself in the full-length mirror. 

She was in the privacy of a very roomy bathroom on the Volturi private jet. It still smelled brand new, or at least not used. There wasn’t even a hint of a soap anywhere, which was a little disconcerting but understandable all the same. No bodily functions meant no need for a bathroom, but it also meant that no one showered on the plane ever. Then again, she hadn’t showered once in the two weeks since she’d been changed. Did vampires need to shower?

A thought for another time, when she had all the time in the world to focus on it. In the meantime, she was forced to reconcile the image in the mirror with the reality if her life.

She was wearing a black cloak very much like Aro had worn when confronting Victoria. It was lined with red, and trimmed with gold and was designed to wrap around her so her arms peeked out from between the folds. And there was a hood, which she realized she’d probably have to put up over her head as the guard had when they came to Forks. 

She managed to at least be able to wear something comfortable underneath. A long, super dark gray sweater that was super soft and lovely against her skin, as well as the darkest denim she could find in her wardrobe. With the hem of her sweater covering all the pockets and grommets from view, and her knee-high boots covering the way the hem looked at the bottom, no one would really know. 

“Ridiculous.”

“It’s not,” Aro said from somewhere outside the room. “I’m sure it looks lovely.”

Sighing, Bella turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom. She opened the door to find her mate outside of it, and nearly laughed at the outfit he wore.

“What, century did this come from, then.” She said as calmly as she could, though she was sure Aro saw her amusement right through it.

“Modeled after a soldier’s uniform from within the last two.” He replied as Bella fingered one of the rectangular bands trimmed with gold on his jacket. “I take it you don’t particularly like the look.”

“Is this meant to be intimidating?” She asked with the slightest bit of a smirk.

Jane growled somewhere else in the plane, but Bella ignored her.

“It makes an impression,” Aro told her. “Much like how your lovely cloak will as well.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Bella said as she felt the plane begin to dip. “Landing? That’s good.”

“Are you nervous,  _ mia amata _ ?” Aro asked her, cupping her cheek as he frowned in concern.

Bella sighed. “A little.” She admitted. “It’s… well it’s my first time in what I’m guessing will amount to a trial. And since I already know what the punishment for creating an immortal child is, I know what to expect.”

“You’ll not have to do anything,  _ mia amata.”  _ He promised. “You’re there to watch, to be seen, nothing more. I’ll not ask that of you. My word in regards to your position in the coven stands.”

She reached up and took his hand off her cheek, holding it in both of hers. “Forgive me if I… react poorly. Later.” She asked very quietly, hoping Jane wasn’t listening in too hard.

“I’ll do my best.” He promised, placing a quick kiss on her lips. “We should be landing soon. It’s daylight, so you’ll need to cover your head, make sure your hands are tucked in your cloak. There will be a car to take us to the safe house, and from there we will wait until nightfall to make our way to the neutral meeting ground.”

“You’ve done this before.” Bella said with a huff.

“More than I care to admit.” Aro replied, putting an arm around Bella’s waist and heading for the front of the plane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say how much I loved seeing your reactions to the one liner of Caius in the last one, and apologize for the general lack of lightness in this bit with so little overall action. There was originally a larger bit at the end, but after consulting with a trusted writer friend it was thought best to shift it to the beginning of the next as it allowed a mini arc and canon "fix" of sort to stay in one chapter.   
> Thanks again for everyone popping on and reading, your support is awesome.  
> Until next time


	26. Chapter 26

The weather was in their favor, and so they were able to leave the safe house well before nightfall. It was Bella’s first experience with rain since she’d changed, and a part of her felt strangely homesick despite hating it so much. It was also a very weird feeling to know the rain was hitting her but being relatively impervious to it. She kept her hood up anyway.

She, Aro, Jane, Felix, and Demetri were accompanied by the man who had accompanied them from Italy back to his homeland who let them to where the two covens were supposed to convene for what was essentially their trial.

When they arrived at a clearing, the covens were a good distance away, both from where they were and from each other.

There was a weird sound in the air that Bella thought sounded familiar, but couldn’t quite pin down. A strange fluttering sound coming from them somewhere. 

She could also see the clear animosity between them all, the way they scowled at one another while on edge. Five to the left, six to the right, none of them really looking all that much like they were family. Bella even noted a pair in the coven on the right with strangely orange eyes, as though halfway to becoming vegetarian.

There was a soft growl of frustration, and Bella looked at Aro, seeing his eyes narrow, a stiffness to his jaw that caused his features to look more menacing. She then glanced around at the guard, seeing Jane’s nose wrinkled in disgust. Felix and Demetri appeared disturbed like they wanted to crawl out of their own skin. Aro sighed heavily.

“Have I really been called out here for this?” he asked in a polite way that sounded terribly menacing. He turned to the group on the right. “Surely you could have figured this out on your own.”

“You haven’t seen it,” Someone said with derision.

“I don’t need to see to know.” Aro snarled back. More calmly, he asked, “Isabella, what do you hear?”

She concentrated on the flutter because that had to be what he meant. She listened for only a few seconds before she realized what it was. “A heartbeat,” she answered.

“And does it make you thirsty?” He asked, and she took stock of herself.

“No,” She replied, frowning in confusion as she looked between the two covens and her lover. 

Aro gave her a quick grin before it turned sharp and was pointed at the two covens.

“I ask her because she’s a newborn, you see. Only changed within the fortnight. Remarkably restrained, isn’t she? Though there would have been no harm toward the child anyway.” Aro replied, and Bella’s eyes went wide, having not spotted said child just yet. “Bring him forward, come on.”

A boy who looked no older than four stepped out from behind one the women in the left coven. He looked curiously at them, like he hadn’t really wanted to be hidden or quiet, but had only done so because he was told to.

Bella watched as Aro got down on his knee and beckoned the boy forward. 

The woman he was hiding behind moved with him, careful to stay near but also keep her distance like she didn’t want to be thought of as clingy. And they both moved fast, far faster than a human should have. When the little boy stopped before Aro, he looked at him curiously with big, brown eyes that held no fear. His little heart did not pick up speed.

“What’s your name?” Aro asked the boy.

“Jack.” The little boy replied.

“Jack,” Aro repeated with a smile. “May I shake your hand?”

The boy nodded, not noticing or caring all the coven behind him tensing as he took Aro’s hand.

Bella watched as Aro’s grin changed, losing that menacing edge and becoming nearly child-like with wonder.

“Magnifico.” He said, moving his hand in the gesture of a shake before letting go and standing up. Looking down at the boy he asked. “Do you play on your own?”

“Lissy won’t let me.” He said, and Aro looked at the woman who had been hovering over the boys shoulder.

“Lissy,” Aro said with a grin. “You are quite protective of this one, aren’t you?” He asked, and the woman merely nodded. “May I,” Aro asked, offering his hand.

“Lissy, don’t you-” A man started to snarl before he was dropping to the ground, curled in a tense ball of pain. Jane’s happy little giggle was all Bella needed to hear to confirm what was happening.

Lissy gave Aro her hand, bowing her head as she did.

“You’ve done the right thing with one exception. I’m sure you know what it was. But, given the ultimatum, I would say I can’t judge you too cruelly.” Aro said after a moment of holding the woman’s hand. “Go,” He told her as he let go. “You and Jack are to leave. Head home.”

Lissy seemed to understand something Bella hadn’t quite cottoned on to yet because the beautiful woman gave a watery smile to Aro. “Thank you,” She said, turning to the boy and picking him up. She sped away with the boy in her arms, and a deafening silence lingered in the air after Jack’s strange heartbeat was no longer in their range of hearing.

All kindness left Aro’s face in a moment, his eyes darkening and his jaw tensing once more. He turned to the coven on the right. “You should have simply used your ears, your sense of smell.”

“We thought a child like that was against the law.” Someone retorted. 

“A human child turned is against the law.” Aro snapped. “A child conceived while the mother is still human is not.” 

“We only did what we thought was right.” Someone else spoke up. 

“I suppose you did.” Aro agreed. “For that, and that alone, I grant you pardon. Go, before I change my mind.” 

The coven didn’t need to be told twice, and as one they left in the opposite direction of Lissy and Jack.

Aro looked over the remaining coven who appeared nervous, unsure, and angry. He gestured to Jane, and she stopped whatever she was doing to the man on the ground, allowing him to get to his feet.

“Now, then.” Aro said, “You’re Jack’s father.”

“Yes.” He said with a sneer.

“He must take after his mother,” Aro retorted, looking the vampire over with disdain. “I’m sure you know what I’m going to ask of you,” Aro said, sticking out his hand.

The man looked at it for a long moment and then snorted. He turned and looked at someone else in the coven.

“You know what to do.” He instructed with a grin.

“He knows to w-” Aro began and then he suddenly stopped.

Bella looked at him, seeing him frozen, eyes filled with terror barely able to shift. She looked to Jane and saw her the same, Felix and Demetri as well. She turned to the coven and noted one seeming to think very hard, mostly looking at Aro, while the others looked to her.

“Shit.” She said before instincts took over. Losing the cloak as quick as she could to improve her speed, she darted past the others toward the one who was likely causing the paralysis among the Volturi coven. He didn’t seem afraid of her, and when Bella looked over her shoulder, she could see why. It was entirely likely that even if she got to this vampire and removed his head to end whatever he was doing, the rest of his coven would likely have at least three-quarters of her coven in pieces.

She’d never been one to fight, the thing with Victoria was a fluke. With James, she was merely trying to buy the Cullens time to save her. So Bella relied very heavily on instincts as she jumped well before she got to the vampire, turning in mid-air so she could land facing her people. A part of her thrilled at it, the first time she’d really tried jumping since she had been turned. More so, the way with which she moved through the air like something graceful. Graceful did not know Isabella Swan when she was human. They were becoming fast friends now.

Bella landed just behind the vampire and found the view over his shoulder utterly terrifying. Two of those three vampires were going for Aro, the other for Felix.

 _No!_ Her mind screamed as two sets of hands went for her unmoving mate. She could see in his eyes that he knew what was going to happen, and they were boring into her as if desperate to see her until he couldn’t. 

_“No!”_ She snarled, the word ripping itself from her throat as she willed the world to bend to her will and _protect him_ while she reached for the vampire in front of her.

And then he was moving. Quick and fast, ducking away from the other two and managing to grab one from behind and rip into his neck with his teeth. Without taking her eyes off Aro, she wrapped her hands around the head of the vampire who froze Aro, covering his eyes.

He growled, clawing at her before managing to flip her over his shoulder and onto the ground. She rolled out of the way as he lunged for her, then got up on her feet in time to have Demetri come to her aid, holding the man around the arms.

“Stay still, bitch.” The guy snarled as Bella went back to him. 

“How do I do it?” She asked Demetri while looking at the guy in his hold.

“Bite his neck and twist his head. It will be the easiest.” Demetri replied casually.

Bella met the vampire’s eye before she took those few steps forward, grabbed his head, and followed Demetri’s instructions.

The head in her hands looked half asleep or perhaps doped, and she was morbidly fascinated with it before she heard the sound of a lighter flicking. Demetri set the body on fire, and Bella tossed the head in with it.

She then looked up to see Aro sneering down at the man who fathered the half-vampire child while Felix held him with one hand around the neck, the other holding one of his arms. Demetri was on the other side in an instant, taking over for Jane who appeared rather out of her element despite the torture she inflicts on others.

She moved to rejoin them at a slower pace, her mind having trouble understanding everything that happened. She had just killed a vampire, and a part of her thought she should be far more concerned with how unbothered she was. She _was_ a vampire now, and this wasn’t necessarily her fighting for her life and getting lucky. She just executed someone. But then, that someone had been a threat to her coven. Her mate, and the two men she was starting to consider her friends. Jane, too, though there wouldn’t have been a terrible amount of love lost there. 

Picking up her cloak, Bella slung it over her arm as a resounding crack echoed through the air. She looked up in time to see the pieces of the vampire being carried toward the fire before she moved to stand at Aro’s side.

“Are you alright?” She asked him, looking him over, trying to see if anything was missing or damaged. She reached out to touch him, to feel him whole beneath her fingers. 

“I’m fine, _mia amata_. And you?” He asked looking her over as well, taking hold of her waist.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She nodded, stepping closer to him, tasting the scent of him in the air before looking to the others. “Demetri? Felix, Jane?” She asked.

“Felix had lost a hand initially, but Jane subdued his attacker long enough to reattach it. Demetri and Jane were both considered afterthoughts. It appeared when the coven understood we would come for the boy, they hoped to overpower us, eliminate a part of the Volturi. They didn’t expect….” He trailed off, shaking his head. “We’ll need to go back.” 

“Alright,” Bella said, nodding uncertainly as Aro stepped back.

He took the cloak off her arm, and flicked it out to the side, he then draped it over her shoulders, fastening the clasp, adjusting cloth and hair so everything sat as it should. He kissed her quickly, then turned to the others. Bella spotted Felix and Demetri a few feet from the fire, heads bowed as they held one another’s arms, quietly conversing in a way not too dissimilar to the conversation Bella had just had with Aro.

“We’re off.” He said just a touch higher, and the pair darted toward them, forming rank with Jane behind Aro and Bella as they headed back toward the safe house, and likely onward to the jet.

  
  


_~*~_

_“I have questions.”_

_“Not here,_ mia cara. _”_

Aro’s voice was smooth, assuring, but there was something in the denial of her questions he would normally welcome that set her on edge. Why would he not want her to ask on the plane when it seemed everyone there had known about the existence, the _possibility_ of a half-vampire? He wouldn’t even really speak to her for the twenty-hour flight, and Jane wouldn’t stop staring at her with a sort of pleased gleam in her eye. 

That was something Bella also didn’t understand, Jane’s dislike of her. Her distrust. At a guess, Bella could only assume it was like a daughter not liking the woman her father was involved with. It was something she could relate to on some level, given the types of men Renee had dated before Phil. She couldn’t remember them now, just the feeling of disliking them, of very much not approving.

Between Aro’s silence, and Jane’s frosty attitude, Bella was quite ready to be alone by the time they landed in Italy. 

It was still dark when they departed the jet, the early hours seeming to stretch on as they went back a few time zones. The car they took was large, possible a miniature limousine, and yet with all the extra space it still felt oppressive. Felix and Demetri were in the front together, like they’d been in the cockpit of the plane, and it was likely that they wouldn’t openly chat with her given the barrier. Jane sat in the center of the seat across from Bella and Aro, her gaze locked pointedly at the space between the mates, paired with a shadow of a grin. Aro had been turned toward the window.

“I need to run,” Bella said suddenly, her limit being hit an hour before they would have hit Volterra. She looked out the back windows, listening for the sound of another vehicle on the road, and found none. In the early hours of the day, there was no one traveling the highway but them for the moment. “I’ll see you back there.” She added as she opened her door and leaped from the vehicle, catching the door and closing it.

It was interesting, landing on her knees and not having anything in her body ache. To be able to spring back up and simply tear across the Italian landscape, sticking to clusters of trees and shadows. She listened to the sounds around her, noting no heartbeats but those of the animals she heard moving about. There were no buildings for miles, no humans to possibly be awake and see her. 

It was a let down that running wasn’t as cathartic as she’d have hoped. There was no exertion, her muscles would never ache or fatigue, she would never need to catch her breath. She could keep running all the way to Volterra, maybe beyond, and never be able to get far enough to shake the edginess that gripped her. 

Logically, Bella knew that it wasn’t an outright dismissal of her. Aro had nearly died, had only just shaken free of the paralysis to be able to stop himself from having his head removed at the last moment. She doubted that was the first time it had happened in his exceedingly long life, but it had to have been unsettling. Not the time for explaining the existence of beings that were half their species. 

She stopped suddenly among a cluster of trees, animals that had been there before scattering and causing the area to fall silent. 

_Don’t be ridiculous._ Bella scolded herself in her head. _Don’t be so selfish. He, the others, they nearly died._

The shame and guilt for taking off so suddenly, for jumping out of the car and running like a petulant teenager, crashed over her. 

Well… a petulant immortal teenager. Which made her think of Edward and how that’s what he’d done when things were unbearable for _him_ when he hadn’t considered anyone else but himself. 

Bella buried her face in her hands and bent over, groaning to herself. She stayed in that position even as she heard someone rushing toward her.

She expected Aro.

She righted herself to find Demetri.

“Forgive me,” He said when she met his eye. “Master Aro was worried for you, given the recent events in Australia.”

Bella nodded. “I just needed….” 

“Understandably,” Demetri replied. “It’s not easy, that first execution. I haven’t been a human for a very long time, I don’t remember what it was like to face mortality. But I imagine it can be unsettling to recall we aren’t gods so soon in your new existence.”

“It’s not my first vampire execution.” She reminded him. “It’s not even the first one I did myself.”

“No, but it’s the first done with intention. The first where your hands were the ones who did the work, your mouth to severe the flesh. I doubt you’ll be behind many, given your ranking, but I’m sure you realize that you won’t always be able to avoid the battle.”

“I guess that was just part of being a vampire I hadn’t considered.” Bella admitted.

“All of us do, from time to time, get in a fight where it’s you or them.” He said. “Today was unexpected. We’d no idea that there was a vampire there with such talents. Limited though they appeared to be.”

Bella nodded and nearly asked what Demetri thought about those limitations before they heard another vampire coming toward them. 

Demetri grinned, then pulled out his phone. “It’s a good thing most of our kind don’t carry these new types of phone. I’d be out of a position.” He mused, looking over his shoulder as Aro came through the trees. “No trouble finding us?”

“No, Demetri, thank you,” Aro replied, acknowledging the bow of Demetri’s head before the tracker took off.

“At least you aren’t tracking my phone.” Bella said as she watched the other vampire go.

“I’d not do that to you. And I’d have given you your space if I wasn’t terribly worried about you. I had to ensure you were well, for my own peace of mind if nothing else.” He confessed. 

“I was having a moment,” Bella replied. “Trying to understand why you would be dismissive.”

Aro sighed. 

“I apologize.” He said chagrined. “I hadn’t meant for it to be like that. It’s only that I know the others haven’t a clue what happened, none of them were able to see it from their petrified perspective.”

Bella frowned. “See what? The baby?” She asked. “Well, the little boy? I get that he and Lissy left….” She trailed off when she realized that Aro had no idea what she was talking about. “I have questions. So many questions about how the _fuck_ something like him can exist, and if there was a very real possibility I could have had a half-vampire baby if you didn’t change me right after we… a few times.”

Aro stared for a moment before a slightly crazed laugh started to slowly bubble up from his chest, and carried on for a good few minutes. It was long enough that Bella was genuinely concerned that he had snapped, that the thought that he could have fathered something with her had only just clicked and it was making him mad.

“ _Uno dei maggior parte dei vampiri potenti del mondo e lei non ha idea.*_ ” He said, much to Bella’s ever-growing frustration for her inability to focus on the language for long.

“Aro!” She snarled, hands balling at her sides because if he didn’t start talking - and in English, thank you - she was going to tear something off of him.

“I will tell you all you want to know about the hybrid. All of it. I’d have given you a full lesson on them on the jet had I only realized that that was what you meant. Because, my darling Isabella, I had thought you would have realized you did something quite amazing in Australia. Something entirely unexpected.”

“What did I do?” She asked as Aro closed the distance between them. She absently lifted her hands to settle them on his waist as he reverently cupped her face.

“You protected me.” He said softly. “You, Isabella, _shielded_ me from the vampire’s abilities. I felt it surround me, and continue to surround me until you engaged the vampire in the fight, and both of you lost concentration. You took the power you possess that shields you from such things and expanded it for a moment to include me.”

“Oh,” She said. “I… I didn’t know. I… I wanted you safe. I couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to you. It’s why I tried to get to the vampire before the others could have….” She closed her eyes, shaking the thought from her mind. “I didn’t know I could do that.”

“Frankly, neither did I.” Aro replied. “Shields are rare, very rare indeed. I’d only seen one other that came anywhere near where you did today, some six hundred years ago.”

“What happened to her?” Bella asked.

“She was with us for a time but asked to return to her family. Renata was a magnificently skilled vampire who could repel a physical attack. I’d seen her in the mind of her very distant uncle, how someone could charge after her and then change their mind at the last moment.”

“Her bond with her family was too strong?” Bella hazard a guess, and Aro smirked.

“Yes, I had met her during one of my more… power-hungry periods. Chelsea did tighten Renata’s bond to us, but it wasn’t enough to pull her away from her family for long. Caius had wanted to wipe them all out for it, siting their breaking the laws as the reason.”

“In what way?” Bella asked. 

“The family still interacts with their human members. They have a line that tends to produce humans born for the immortal life. Not all choose to go through with it, but as the patriarch never says what he is, never lets them see him hunt, it’s a bit of a gray area. Think of it like you still interacting with your father, and he sees how you are now, but doesn’t have the word for it. Myths tend to come in handy to defer suspicion.”

“And do they have children like Jack?” Bella asked.

Aro grinned. “I see that’s heavy on your mind.”

“A bit, yeah,” Bella said with a touch of sarcasm, making Aro giggle.

“We should speak more of this at home.” He said. “I’d rather us not have so many of these types of conversations among trees.”

“Alright,” Bella agreed. As they started their run, she added, “I do have another question, unrelated to everything.”

Aro shot her an expectant and amused glance.

“Do vampires need to bath?”

He smirked. “Need? No. But you’ve given me a rather interesting idea.”

~AB~

He couldn’t remember the last time he lounged in a tub of burning hot water. Well, it would be burning for a human. Enough that Bella would have been an appealing shade of pink all over, though unpleasantly sweaty. 

Instead, she was laid back against him, her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed in near-perfect bliss. Her skin, that wonderful violet and jasmine scent that naturally clung to her was magnified by the heat. 

It was actually the original reason he’d had the large, clawfoot tub put in. He recalled from when public baths were in fashion how heady it could be to taste the scent of his lovers in the air. Sulpicia had always been a favorite until she found a mate of her own, but now she hardly compared at all to Bella. 

“Alright,” She said after a moment. “Tell me about these hybrids.” She opened her eyes just enough to peek at him. “Was there a chance I’d have ended up bearing hybrid kids if you kept me human?”

She smirked, just enough to let him know she knew he wouldn’t have done that. It didn’t stop Aro from feeling the very beginnings of discomfort when he realized what road they were about to go down

“The circumstances for their conception have to be perfect.” Aro told her. He put a hand in her hair, he lightly combed through the silk-like strands, trying to comfort her before she would need it. “We must have fed quite recently, as the blood rejuvenates us to a degree. It’s assumed the woman must be in a very specific phase of her cycle, though I’ve no idea what that would be. But the most crucial element is,” He watched her careful, hating that she’d already closed her eyes and relaxed back against him. “She would have to be his singer.”

“Well,” Bella smirked again, “It’s a good thing I was your mate and not your-” She moved so fast half the water sloshed out over the sides of the tub in a heavy sounding _splash_. She stared wide-eyed at him, her legs bracketing his, her hands on his shoulders, and genuine fear in her eyes. “Edward. I was Edward’s singer, and he… loved me. Which means that, probably, possibly, at some point, there might have been a time… when… and if things went right then….” She put a hand over her mouth and stomach. “Oh god, I feel sick but I can’t be sick. Oh god.” She dropped her head on Aro’s shoulder, and he couldn’t help put his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, _mia amata._ I’m sure it was not something you particularly wanted to hear.”

“I didn’t want kids,” Bella said against his shoulder. She eventually lifted her head and looked him in the eye. “I never did, it was not something I had any urge for. I know Edward had tried to hint that it wasn’t in the cards because vampires are frozen, but maybe it was just something he said. Just another way he could take advantage of my humanity. I thought it was to deter me, but now?”

“If it helps, he genuinely believes it’s not a possibility. And if he did know, he’d likely wouldn’t have allowed it to happen. For one, he doesn’t particularly like what he is, and would not wish it on anyone even by half. For another, there are no normal births with these offspring. The rip their way out, usually leaving the mother to die.”

Bella’s brow furrowed, the horror yet to fade from her features. “Then how do the babies survive?”

Aro soothed a hand over her spine. “Jack was four months old.”

“Four _months,”_ Bella asked incredulously.

“They grow fast. Usually reach what one may call adulthood by seven, and barring an accident, will live for about three hundred years.” 

Bella’s features softened. “They’re mortal.”

“They are mortal.” Aro nodded. “They have a heart that beats, blood in the veins, and they can not be turned immortal as the have a variation of our venom.”

Bella nodded, then reached for the taps and turned the hot water back on. She got out of the tub a moment, grabbing a few towels and sopping up the spilled water.

“Exactly what are you doing?” Aro asked with a frown.

Bella looked up from where she was kneeling on the floor. “Cleaning up the water.” She said with a bit of condescension.

“You realize there’s no point. The floor is marble, it’s hardly going to warp. And we won’t slip, and if we do, we can perfectly regain our balance.”

Bella still got the last of the water before climbing back into the tub and turning the water back off.

“It’s the principal.” She said as she nestled in between his legs again, leaning back against his chest. “The water will take hours to dry.”

“And so will the towels, now.”

“Yeah, but we can wring out the towels.” Bella argued.

“We can’t possibly be having this argument.” Aro grumbled mostly to himself but was glad he voiced the thought when Bella laughed, the sound so incredibly soothing that he relaxed that much more.

As he went back to stroking her hair, his mind wandered back to the confrontation in Australia.

He’d seen nothing to tip him off in Lissy’s thoughts. She was one of Jack’s father’s coven mates from about the time he’d turned. She was only a few years older than him and had thought of him as a younger brother. When he’d told her what happened with his singer, she’d brought the woman to live with them in an old shack away from humanity. They fed her, cared for her, watched her waste away with little understanding of how to prevent it. Then Jack made his gruesome way into the world, and they burned the mother’s body and left the shack with the baby. Lissy had been tasked with taking care of him, making sure he was kept in line and out of sight. They’d stumbled across the gifted vampire, and he had apparently made a sort of deal with Jack’s father that would keep him silent. 

That deal meant that Lissy couldn’t report Jack to the Volturi herself, though she hadn’t known the foundations of it. She hadn’t even known the vampire was gifted. All she knew was they would destroy her and the babe should she breathe a word of his existence to anyone. Therefore, she’d been very confused at the sheer glee that went through her coven mates when they were told there would be a meeting with Aro and the guard. 

The little knowledge she had had allowed Aro to be on his guard after sending her and the child away, but the way the attack began was horrifying in its unpredictability. If he knew, he could have had Jane subdue him. If he knew, the rest of the coven would have been destroyed. 

But he hadn’t, and so Aro found himself unable to move with only the ability to move his eyes an infinitesimal amount. Enough for him to see and understand that his newborn mate was the only one immune to the vampire’s ability, and the sickening realization that it was her against four with no training. 

Her running had stunned the others, he’d gathered from the ring leader’s mind when he’d seen his thoughts later on. That she shed her cloak and took off the moment the rest of the Volturi had been frozen had them pause to debate if she was worth it. She was heading toward their gifted one, yes, but it appeared more like she was going to run past him than at him. 

They had predicted wrong, it was likely the only thing that allowed Bella to end up being their savior.

He’d been watching her, for if Aro was going to look at anything before he met his end, it would be Bella. He’d seen her land smoothly behind the other, staring back at Aro with fear and determination as she went to stop the gifted one. 

Then Aro heard her say “no” and felt the wonderful warmth of her wash over him, instantly freeing him from the hold and allowing him to dismember one vampire before fighting Jack’s father. It was mere seconds after that the others were free, Demetri springing first to help his own mate. Then, when Jane had had the vampire subdued, dashed to help his Mistress.

Aro didn’t want to speak of what happened, not until he could see who had witnessed what Bella had done.

Jane saw nothing, and even if she had, her thoughts had led Aro to believe she wouldn’t have trusted Bella anyway. She still wore the Cullen crest, she had not been seen with Aro much if at all since the night of her introduction while still human. Edward Cullen came to visit, and Bella had escorted the boy out for privacy the first opportunity she could. To Jane, Bella was merely another Sulpicia, and Jane would only respect her as much as she would be required.

Demetri and Felix had had eyes only for one another. Neither saw a thing regarding Bella until after Felix’s attacker was subdued, and Demetri went to her side. They were grateful to her, though, for her quick action to stop their foe. They’d already liked and respected her, but that grew exponentially in the aftermath. Especially when they realized she’d seen them together and didn’t balk. A tricky thing, that. Acceptance came and went with the flow of time, and Bella’s not batting an eye at them in a fairly intimate embrace endeared her further to the pair.

Her abilities, for now, were their own, private secret. 

Oh, she truly was such a prize. 

The power she held was something quite unexpected. He had wondered while she was human if she had had one, but never dreamed it could grow to encompass someone else. She could protect their whole coven, keep them safe from harm. He could imagine the Romanians rising once more, attempting to win back the title they’d lost only to find themselves once again defeated in a blink. Even if they had finally realized the advantage the supernatural gifts were and found a few of their own, Bella would stop them. 

She truly was a perfect queen, if she’d only just accept her role.

There was still that half-dream in his mind, the fleeting thought he’d had of having Alice come with him to Volterra. He’d consult with Marcus, ask if he would wish to make room for the seer, take a lesser role within the coven. Aro couldn’t bear the thought of parting with his brother completely, but he could imagine Marcus stepping aside to make room for her. He had considered Edward as well, but Bella made a much finer picture. 

“Did I really protect you?” She asked in such a hushed voice it was barely a human whisper. “I wanted to, desperately. I wanted you to be free so you could defend yourself, and you think that was me?”

“I know it was you, _mia amata_ ,” He replied in the same, quiet voice, turning his lips to brush them against her temple. “I could feel you, your presence around me. It may not be the same for others, they may not even notice it. But how could I not feel your protection of me?”

“Do you think you could have heard my thoughts if we had touched then?” She asked, turning her head toward him.

“It’s possible.” He agreed. “But why would you want me to? I quite like our current arrangement.” 

Bella smiled, “Yeah, I sorta prefer you never knowing anything that went on inside my head. You sorta look at me sometimes like a hung the stars, and I’d hate for you to be disillusioned with the truth. Like, how some days it took me far too long to choose a cereal. Or how I really sorta wanted this stupid golden onion thing, but Edward kept showing off and distracted me.”

“I assure you, I’ve seen far more banal things in my lifetime. At least humans have those sorts of decisions to make. A nomad may have gone literal days without having a thought besides that of boredom.”

“Suppose there’s that.” Bella agreed. 

“Imagine what we could do together,” He said softly again, his fingers moving from her hair to trail across the vast expanse of skin available to him. “Imagine the way the world would tremble at the mention of us, knowing we were invincible to so much more.”

He felt her tense beneath him and stopped the trail of his fingers.

“Would you make me?” She asked. “You hear of a vampire you want for the guard-”

“I’ll never make you do anything you don’t wish,” Aro swore, shifting so he could look her in the eye. “That wasn’t the intent I had with the thought, merely that the Volturi reign would be secure.” He cupped her cheek, his thumb trailing water across her skin. “I love you, Isabella. You are not my guard, you are my equal. You’ll hear no command from me.”

“From _you_ ,” She said pointedly. “But Marcus? Caius? He’s more likely to do that, I think.”

“We’ll tell no one.” He said. “No one knows what happened but you and I, and we can keep it that way. You could simply practice trying, seeing if you can feel if it expand.”

“Not going to use me for further world domination?” Bella asked, only a hint of a tease in there.

“If I did not love you, I may have.” He admitted. “I may have hoped you would have been my new Renata. I’d have asked Chelsea if it were possible to have you bound to me. I don’t know if it’s possible because of your shielding, but baring that I would have done whatever I could to convince you to stay. And if I couldn’t-”

“You’d have killed off all the non-gifted Cullens to have me for yourself?” She suggested, and it stung that she would have jumped to that.

“If I couldn’t have you, I would hope that if I were to need you, you would stand with me in thanks for the freedom we granted.” He corrected. “But we shall never know, which may well be for the better.” When Bella didn’t look entirely convinced, he sighed. “What will it take to prove this to you, _mia cara?_ ”

“Nothing,” She said with a shake of her head. “You don’t need to prove anything to me.” She shifted around in the tub more gently this time, her legs once more bracketing his. Bella ran her hand over his cheek lacing his hair through her fingers. “Just promise me this: you will treat other gifted vampires the way you would have treated me. I’m not saying dismiss the guard you have, I’m just asking you not add to it by bringing them in against their will.”

“I will endeavor to keep that promise.” He nodded, his hands drifting once more along her body while he held her eye. “You’ll have to remind me, I think, from time to time. Had that gifted one today not been hostile with a vendetta against us, I may have tried to lure him in.”

“Why was he so hateful to you?” Bella asked.

“I rightly don’t know,” Aro admitted. “Sometimes, given who we are and what we do, some of our kind simply hate us.” His eyes followed the trail of his hand, drinking in the sight of her, before lifting to her ruby eyes once more. “Though I doubt anyone could hate you.”

“Bias.” Bella smirked. “And we both know Jane _does_ so also lies.” 

“She doesn’t hate you,” Aro corrected. “Merely harbors an intense dislike of you.”

Bella laughed as she settled more firmly against him. “Same thing.” She said before placing a kiss on Aro’s lips while wrapping her arms around his neck. “Now, tell me the most boring thing you’d ever seen in someone’s mind.”

Aro glanced down between them then back up with an arched brow. “Is that really what you want to do right now?”

Bella grinned smugly. “We’re vampires, we can multitask.”

“Not if things are done properly.” He countered, settling his hands on her waist.

“The stories first. I already cleaned the floor once.”

“Which you didn’t have to.” He reminded her.

“It’s the principal. And I’m not going to sit around while someone else cleans it for me.”

“It’s water on marble, not as though it will do lasting damage.”

“It’s not the point.

And so the conversation went until one or both decidedly ended it in a way neither of them could complain about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *One of the most powerful vampires in the world and she has no idea.
> 
> It really bothered me that a band of ruling vampires who had been around for thousands of years had *never* heard of a half-immortal before. Especially since there was at least seven in canon by the time Renesmee came around. I find that very hard to believe that they just never came across one ever.
> 
> Thanks everyone for reading, as always. Until next time!


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra long chapter for you!

When the city around the castle began to decorate for the Christmas season, Bella was starkly reminded that there would be things expected of her.

She was terrible at calling her parents as it was, barely realizing two weeks had passed without so much as a word from her when Charlie would call like clockwork. He sounded mildly suspicious, but all it took was Bella beginning to tell him a mere fraction of the things she was learning as a vampire to get him to laugh and back off, understanding that she was busy. Renee was a little more flighty about it, but then the pending arrival of Bella’s little brother Beau had been a nice little distraction. 

She’d gotten the news in an email, Renee had been far too excited by the news to wait until when she thought Bella would be awake, and likely wouldn’t have been able to stay up late enough for the call herself.

They’d been at the forefront of her mind when Bella started her holiday shopping online.

That’s how Aro found her when he had entered the study.

As was his practice, he’d went to her side to kiss her and anticipate any questions she might have, but stilled the moment he rounded the desk.

“Why are you shopping for infant toys?” He asked.

“Beau.” She replied.

“I’m pleased you think so, but that doesn’t answer the question.” He quipped, and Bella looked up at her mate to see him rather pleased with himself.

“It’s Christmas time.” She replied.

“Yes?” He said slowly. “And?”

“And my family would expect a gift.” Bella leaned away from the computer and twisted to look at him properly. “I’m still supposed to be here studying. They’d still expect me to send something.”

“I suppose,” He agreed. “You could have Heidi do it, she’s quite remarkable at these sorts of things.”

“No,” Bella said firmly, turning back to the laptop. “I’m not going to put the task of buying Christmas presents for my family on someone else.” 

Aro ran his hand over her shoulders. “I had not meant it like that,” He assured softly, apology heavy in his voice.

Sometimes it was easy to be at his side. Bella didn’t mind standing in while court was held from time to time but tended to keep to the side with Demetri and Felix. If not with them, then she would read from the many books kept there for when the leaders felt the need to move, to occupy their brains. He’d only gone on one other trip to settle a dispute since Australia, and she had accompanied him. These moments and their many stolen ones together hunting or simply being together were the ones that made being his mate worth it.

Other times it was too much. If someone else could do something for her, he would constantly suggest it. Why go get the books you want from the library when someone else can do it for you? No need to purchase replacement clothing on your own, there’s always someone who could run to the shop. And why drive anywhere when you could be driven? Sometimes his suggestions to take on a more leader-like role were amusing. Other times it was downright frustrating.

Then there were moments like this when he thought he was being helpful, and Bella could understand why.

She could feel the tension in her back and neck and believed she was making herself feel the phantom of a headache.

Bella reached over her shoulder and caught his hand, holding it. 

“I’m not good at this.” She admitted to him. “I’m not good and keeping up appearances. I… I only just wrote to the friends I had in Forks after so many emails from them. Made up so many bullshit reasons why I hadn’t written back, and spent a couple hours editing photos of myself to make my eyes brown again and dulling my skin. I missed Halloween and Thanksgiving. And I have a few years of this left before it just becomes ‘I got a job here, won’t be coming back.’ ‘Oh so busy, I’ll have to miss the holidays again.’”

“We don’t notice time like a human does.” Aro reminded her, encouraging her to stand with him. “In some ways, that’s a blessing, because as you fade from their lives, they’ll fade from yours, and then they’ll be no more than a memory. It will get easier as the decades pass.”

“I don’t intend for this to carry on for decades.” She said, placing a quick kiss on his hand before letting go. 

“For the best. You’ll not age, after all.” Aro said as he moved to a bookshelf nearby.

“ _Come sta andando il tuo italiano, mia cara?_ *” He asked as he took a book down and thumbed through it.

“ _Stai migliorando, antico.”_ Bella replied while clicking on a fairly nice baby blanket.

Aro giggled, “I’m not so sure, but it’s a start.” After a moment he asked, “Have you spoken to any of the Cullens as of late?”

“No,” Bella said, then added, “I probably should, though, shouldn’t I?”

“Again, _mia amata,_ time passes differently for us. I only ask as nothing more ever came of Irina, and I had wondered if perhaps the Cullens had settled things with her.”

“Probably,” Bella agreed. She glanced over at her mate, taking a moment to appreciate the view before doing what she’d been reflectively practicing for months: she attempted to stretch her shield.

It took a couple of weeks for her to realize that she could feel it. It was like trying to stretch a latex glove beyond its shape, or a really sturdy hair elastic. And, what’s more, is that it often felt like doing these things while at her weakest. As if she didn’t have the energy to do it. It had been easier after a hunt, but only just. 

Now she focused, trying to wrap it around her lover as he seemed to lose himself in the words. 

She thought she might have had him before she felt it snap back around her.

“I could feel it.” He told her. “Like sensing your presence.”

“Still frustrating.” She grumbled.

“I know, _mia amata_.” He soothed with voice alone, closing the book with a smack and then placing it back on the shelf. “Will you be joining us for dinner today? I know you only hunted last night, but I thought I should ask.”

“I’m fine,” Bella replied, staring at the screen and trying to think what to get for Jacob. 

She had tried the Volturi way of waiting around and then grabbing a human from a crowd Heidi had wrangled and brought to them. It seemed weird. A part of her thought she should be utterly horrified at the way they all screamed when they were suddenly under attack by a bunch of vampires, but she wasn’t. Even when there were children, the smell of blood had tripped something in her vampiric brain that merely reminded her that predators didn’t define their prey by age, and they were just quite unfortunate to be where they were. Most times there were no children, though, and Bella had noted that Jane and Alec typically went for them if there were. 

What Bella really preferred was hunting. She had gotten very good and causing or creating car accidents, and it made the blood far more satisfying when she’d gotten it herself. She still didn’t see the appeal, nor did she hate it. 

She was truly indifferent to it, and that was another reason she didn’t like dining with the others. She knew the others thought she was odd. When they’d all jump at a human, causing a frenzy in the beginning, Bella would calmly wait at the side for a straggler or attempted runner to go past and feast on them. If someone else wanted the person, she would give them up. Even the divine smell filling the air only served to make her thirsty, but it never spiked the blood lust. 

She was weird. Bella Swan was a weird human, and now she was a weird vampire.

At least she was still her.

“Would it be weird to order Jake an Italian bike?” Bella asked, earning a frown from Aro. “Like a motorcycle.” She added in case he was picturing Jacob peddling around Forks on a bicycle.

“Are you sure it’s not something you would actually be purchasing yourself?” Aro asked with a slight upturn of his lips.

“I’d have to test them out.” She said with a casual shrug. “Just to make sure it’s good enough.”

Aro laughed at that, the delight heavy in the high pitch. “Yes, of course. It has nothing to do with your little late-night travels with three of our guard. I’ve seen the delight in your eyes from the memories, Isabella, you can’t tell me that you aren’t interested in your own.”

Bella leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms.

“You once said you were planning on bestowing me with shiny trinkets, and I haven’t seen a single glimmer. If anyone’s buying me a bike, it’s you.” She pointed out, and Aro was immediately in front of her, caging her in with his hands on the armrest.

“Would my queen want a gift? Does she finally wish to make a command?”

“Oh fuck off, I don’t want it now.” She said uncrossing her arms and ducking out under his. He laughed more at her, and she hated that she really hadn’t grown accustomed to it. She still loved it, still adored when she was the one who brought it out in him. And really, she’d come to realize she was one of the _only_ people who made him do so. Not that he didn’t laugh with others, but it was muted, more controlled than when they were alone. 

It meant she couldn’t help but stop and smile herself, even as she crossed her arms and attempted to remain miffed.

He was behind her, hands skimming her upper arms, nosing at her neck.

“You are so easy to rile, _mia amata_ ,” He said teasingly, lips trailing where his nose had been. “And I do so love it when you’re riled.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for dinner?” She asked, reaching behind her to find the base of his neck, feeling his hair between her fingers.

“I could always give it a pass, go hunting with you when next you go.” He said before kissing her neck.

She very nearly decided that that was exactly what he would do when her phone rang.

She frowned and Aro pulled back. And when it rang a second time she went back to the desk and frowned at her mother’s name on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Bella!” Her mom’s voice rang out, “Surprise.”

Aro frowned as Bella did, the pair looking at one another across the room.

“Surprise?” She asked.

“Well, see, there are these things called push presents. Did you know that? Presents for giving birth. Anyway, Phil got us tickets to Italy. It’s early, of course, but given that just when little Beau would be able to fly, Phil would start his season, I convinced him to come a little early. We didn’t know where you were, though, when we originally so we actually booked our hotel in Venice. But after we got your letter we figured out where the city was on the map and here we are! Where is this school you’re attending.”

Bella’s eyes went wide with panic, and then she was grabbing the winter jacket she wore for the sake of appearances. Aro was beside her, a hand on her arm to stop her a moment before handing her a case of contact lenses. She kissed his cheek in thanks, then dashed out the door.

“Where are you?” She asked as calmly as she could as she raced through the castle. 

“I don’t know, I think we’re in the center of the city, but I can’t tell.” Renee said just as Bella picked up the sound of Heidi’s voice in the distance over the line. 

“There should be a fountain.” Bella said as she put in the lenses she used to shop with Heidi on rainy days. 

She hated them, seeing every minor scratch, every detail that would be invisible to the human eye. She could still see, of course, but it was irritating needing to focus past them. What’s more, she had to change them every hour, because that’s about how long they would last before her venom began to dissolve them.

She then put on her jacket and gloves, all black, as she neared the exit. “I’m not far, I’ll join you in a moment.” Hanging up, pocketed her phone and dashed out the same doors that she, Edward, and Alice had once been led through.

Heidi had already drawn quite a crowd, and Bella was relieved to see her mom wasn’t among them.

She’d no idea if it worked, but as soon as she spotted the very pregnant Renee, Bella attempted to stretch her shield around her mom to prevent Heidi’s charm from getting to her. Not that she had any idea if that’s how Heidi’s talent even worked.

Moving at a human pace when there was a chance Renee might fall into a literal tourist trap was excruciating. Heidi noticed Bella nearly immediately and stopped her call for tours, worriedly looking at her as she maneuvered past the people.

The sun wasn’t terribly bright, not enough to make Bella sparkle without a hood to which she was thankful for. Had her mother decided to pop over on any other day.

Bella was near her mother when she had to stop for a moment due to the intense smell of something delightful. Venom actually pooled in her mouth a little, and she swallowed it down as she continued to Renee’s side and smiled.

“Bella!” Renee lit up, and then threw her arms around Bella and squeezed as much as her belly would allow. “Oh, you feel like you’re just bone under there.” Renee commented as she stepped back. 

“Just tense,” Bella replied. “Been stressful.” She added as the glories smell lingered in the air. She looked down at Renee’s belly. “You’re getting… round.” She said, unsure what to say and hoping the smell wasn’t because Renee was essentially a two for one deal.

“Yes, and he’s quite the kicker.” She said, rubbing her belly over her coat. “I think maybe he likes you. Do you wanna feel?”

“Umm, yeah, not… not really.” She said, wincing at the bump, unsure what it would be like to feel that as a human, let alone as a vampire.

“A little weirded out?” Renee said knowingly.

“I guess.” Bella said, glancing around, trying to figure out why that smell was so intense.

“You get used to it.” Renee assured, and Bella turned back to her mom.

“I’m not changing my mind on children.” She asked, taking a breath and regretting it.

Renee laughed, and Bella realized the sandpaper feeling in her throat wasn’t going away as she swallowed another mouthful of venom. 

“I guess not,” Renee sighed reluctantly. “I had hoped for grandkids, but I suppose Beau could always be the one to do that.” She said as she patted her belly.

“Don’t put that on him,” Bella said, shaking her head, noting that Heidi was bringing the tourists inside. She tasted the air again, that wonderful thing still lingering, but instead of fading off as the people were brought inside, it only grew stronger. “Don’t be the mom who tries to pressure her children to have children.”

“I’m just saying, he’s probably my last hope. For now, anyway.” Renee added with a smirk.

“More kids, really? This one hasn’t even arrived yet.” Bella smirked, and Renee merely shrugged with a grin. “Just, you know, no more B names that mean some form of beauty.”

“Your name is _Isa_ bella _,_ it begins with an I, thank you.”

“You only ever called me Bella.” She pointed out.

“Because it’s such a pretty name! And look at how well you suit it, Italy is doing wonders for you.” Renee fawned, petting her hair. “Your hair is just the softest now, what have you been doing, anything special?”

“Just moisturizing,” Bella replied quickly, flapping her hands about and trying desperately to ignore how much dryer her throat was getting, and how much venom was trying to line her mouth. That smell reminded her of decedent chocolate or the absolute best pizza she’d ever had all while being starved after not having eaten all day. It was hot coffee and pancakes first thing in the morning, waking up her senses in a way that hadn’t been tickled once in the four months since her rebirth.

“It’s too bad you clearly haven’t seen much sun, you seem paler than you used to. Probably from living in Forks for the last year and a half. Were you this pale in Florida? I can’t remember, pregnancy brain and all,” Renee rambled while Bella ran her tongue on the back of her teeth, desperate to sink them into something and drink. Preferably whatever was behind the cause of that intoxicating scent.

It was closer now, she could tell.

“There she is!” Phil cheered, and Bella spun around a touch too fast though it didn’t seem like either he or Renee had noticed.

Bella didn’t respond to her stepfather, because she knew if she were to open her mouth words would not come out. She would simply latch herself onto Phil’s neck and drink him down to a shriveled raisin of a corpse and enjoy every single second of it until Aro came outside and was forced to remove her head.

So she smiled and waved instead, though by the way that Phil flinched proved her smile was likely just as predatory as it felt. He looked at her wearily, and it made Bella excited. Proper prey, prey that was now frozen in fear, holding two coffee cups and looking like he was possibly one second away from turning around and running. Each was waiting to see which one would move first, and he had no idea how quick she would be, that he had no chance. His heart was racing, pounding making the ambrosia-like scent more pungent around them.

Renee laughed a little nervously, and Bella stopped breathing.

“She looks really different, doesn’t she?” Renee asked walking backward a bit. She reached for one of the drinks, and Phil barely seemed to note Renee take it from him. “I think this place is doing good things for her. Is Aro around?” She asked teasingly. 

“No,” Bella said, ever thankful that breath wasn’t required for her to have a voice. 

Renee frowned. “Are you alright? You sound off.”

“Air’s a little… I think I might be coming down with something.” Bella replied, her eyes locked back on to Phil. 

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Renee said, sounding genuinely disappointed. “We were hoping you would join us for dinner somewhere in the city. Maybe you could show us around your school.”

“The school. Right. Yeah, no, it would be great, but it’s got a lot of stairs, and I don’t think you’d want to do those in your condition.” Bella said, and Phil glanced at Renee’s belly. He almost seemed to be calculating if he could get between Bella and her should Bella move, and a part of her new brain found it endearing if not a little stupid. “And there’s specific days and visiting hours. Afraid you just missed it.”

“Did we,” Phil said a little tightly.

“Yes, it’s just too bad,” Bella said and watched her step-father visibly swallow. His neck moved, and Bella very nearly growled.

“Well, what about dinner?” Renee asked again. “I mean, I know you might be coming down with something, but-”

“We can’t risk it,” Phil said immediately. “Not when we’re traveling, Bella might pass on whatever she has to you.”

Bella smirked very quickly, a fleeting thing. Phil couldn’t have possibly seen it but she still seemed to sense that she was as amused as she was dangerous.

“I almost feel like it was a wasted trip,” Renee said a little bitterly. “We came all this way to see you.”

“Without calling. Or writing, or even asking if it’s what I wanted.” Bella partly snapped, pulling her gaze away from Phil for the first time since he arrived.

“Hey, don’t talk to your-” Phil tried to defend, but the moment Bella’s eyes snapped back to him he stopped.

“You aren’t my dad.” She told him firmly. “You’re not anything to me.” 

“Bella.” Renee sounded scandalized. 

Bella took a breath and regretted it. Clenching her jaw she grit out, “Sorry.” She swallowed a mouthful of venom. “Just… can you give me a few minutes. I wasn’t really prepared.” She said with a clenched jaw, and it occurred to her that she regaining clear vision rather more quickly than she normally would. “Headache. Just, yeah, meet you back here in a bit, okay. I’ll call you.”

“You know, it’s okay,” Phil said, and Renee looked at him, betrayed. He didn’t notice and barreled on. “You’re right. We didn’t call. Or write. And you have a life, and we’re intruding. You carry on, we’ll… we’ll be in touch.”

“Phil!” Renee protested, and Bella took the opportunity to turn around and return to the castle.

.She moved as slowly as possible until she was inside and away from view. But once she was in the safety of her home, she tore off to the throne room. The smell wasn’t as good, but there was a whiff of blood in the air the closer she got, and she _needed._

She threw the doors open with a bang and surveyed the room, looking to see who was feeding, and spotting a group of humans off to the side. 

“Isabella?” She heard Aro ask, but she was too focused on the humans. She darted toward one, distantly hearing it yelp before she sunk her teeth into its neck. She groaned, the taste not nearly as good as she knew it probably could be, and she darted her gaze up toward the thrones as if daring any of them to comment. “Oh, dear,” Aro said, eyes wide and brightly red from the fresh blood. 

“I thought you said she wouldn’t be joining us because she’d fed yesterday.” Caius remarked with a gleeful expression. “Her eyes are pitch black.”

Were they? She almost wished she could see them, the curious part of her having never really seen a human drinker with black eyes except just before they were about to dive into the latest delivery. James was a fuzzy memory at best, too far removed for her to recall properly. The curiosity was short-lived, though, when the human in her hands had no more left to give, and she needed _more._

Tossing it aside, she grabbed the next one, having only half-realized she stayed near what the others would sometimes call the leftovers, the humans who would be brought up to Athenadora and Corin, as well as to any of the Volturi who hadn’t been around.

The second meal did more to ease the dryness in her throat than the first. It wasn’t as good as drinking Phil would have been, but it was at least satisfying. With each swallow, she came back to herself a little more. 

The frenzy of her mind faded, and as Bella took her last drink she could recall how vehemently Phil’s wanting to get away from her. The lenses had dissolved faster than anticipated, and that there was no denying a part of her vampire brain took over and saw him not as her mom’s husband, but as food. She didn’t know how much damage she’d done. What was worse, she’d no idea if what she did was exposure. 

“Aro.” She said quietly, meeting his eye and hoping he understood how badly she needed him.

In a fraction of a second, she knew he had.

“Out.” He commanded, and the guard obeyed, Heidi, Demetri, and Felix showing concern for her. Jane and Alec with a certain amount of hope mixed with their derision.

Two more vampires came and escorted the remaining, living humans forcefully out. The group was so stunned that they hadn’t made much of a sound, only vocal after the doors were closed, and Bella was able to drown them out.

“Isabella,” Aro said softly, going to her side and removing the human from her grip, setting it aside before taking her hands in his. 

Bella looked at one corpse, then the other one, and noticed she hadn’t exactly been clean in her haste. 

“She’s severed a connection,” Marcus said sympathetically.

“With who?” Caius asked with confusion. “What connection does she have to worry over?”

“ _Mia amata?”_ Aro asked, tilting his head so he could meet Bella’s gaze.

“My stepfather.” She said, softly. “I’ve never wanted blood so desperately.”

“Isabella,” Aro said fearfully.

“I left.” She assured firmly. “They’re alive, both of them. I left before I could do anything, but I… I acted odd. I… I wish I could show you.” 

They both knew there was a chance she could, but it was something neither of them had been willing to attempt. And if they were to try it here? They’d expose their secret, and while Bella trusted Marcus wouldn’t abuse her gift, she couldn’t say the same for Caius.

“How did you leave things?” Aro asked.

“I told mom I had to step away. Phil was very adamant we not meet up again. They were arguing and I left.”

“Call your mother Aro assured. 

“And say what?” Bella asked, confused.

“Forget what to say, why do it in the first place?” Caius demanded. “She should not have connections to her human life.”

“It is not so simple.” Marcus assured as Bella got out her phone, dialing her mother’s number.

“It is,” Caius retorted, but before he could explain further, Renee picked up.

“Bella.” She said, somewhere between angry and relieved, more than a little hurt thrown in along with a dash of hope.

“Hey,” She started, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry about earlier, it’s just-”

“Phil is being weird.” Renee managed to say, and Aro darted away from her a moment, opening the doors to the throne room and calling for Heidi. “He doesn’t want you near me, and I don’t get why.”

“I can’t explain it.” Bella said, trying not to laugh at the sheer truth those words held. “Umm….” Aro was in front of her again, beckoning for the phone. “Hold on.” She said, frowning as she handed the device over to her mate.

Aro smiled, “Hello, would this be Isabella’s mother?” He asked.

Bella heard her mother’s gasp, and then palmed her face when Renee replied. “It is, and you _must_ be Aro. Oh, she lets you get away with calling her Isabella. It must be because of the accent.”

It was flirty, and simpering, and wrong.

“Perhaps it is.” Aro conceded with a smirk for Bella, and she _knew_ it was because she’d said something similar in her human life. “Would you still happen to be in Volterra?”

A pause. “We hadn’t even left the square. Well, actually, my husband did, but mostly because he didn’t want to listen to reason.”

“Ah, excellent. Isabella was worried when she stepped away you would have left. Are you planning on being in the city for longer?”

“Of course,” Renee said quickly, the relief heavy in her voice. 

“Stay in the square, then, we’ll be there in a moment.” Aro said, disconnecting the call and slipping Bella’s phone into the pocket of her jacket.

“What are you doing?” She asked him as Heidi came in with a long black jacket and something in her hand. “I can’t be near Phil or I will rip his neck apart.”

“You were unprepared, and it had been hours since your last drink.” Aro assured as he put his arms out, allowing Heidi to slip his coat on, then adjusting it around his body himself.

“Unprepared for what?” Bella asked as Heidi handed her another set of lenses.

“ _Lui è il tuo cantante.”_

Bella blinked. “Seriously, my stepfather?”

“Edward’s first love?” He countered as Heidi handed him a case of lenses as well. “Of course _you_ would have the exception to the believed rule that one’s family cannot be their singer. But then, I don’t think there were many vampires who could tote having had a step-parent before their change. A step-sibling, yes. One in Spain having found their singer in such a relation, but hadn’t realized the family connection until news of their disappearance made its way to them via their step-parent.” Aro grimaced. “The vampire wished for death. I had not enjoyed that execution.”

“Rather pointless,” Caius mumbled as Bella put in the lenses. “I can not believe you’re allowing this.” Caius sneered. “A perfectly acceptable severed connection, one that should have been done before she was even changed. A plane crash, or vehicle crash to make it seem she was dead.”

“She has connections to the Cullens.” Marcus reminded him in a bored tone. “Should she go back to see them it would seem suspicious.”

“She is one of us.” Caius stated. “Not a Cullen.”

“Calm, Caius,” Aro said before reaching for Bella’s hand. She glanced up and was taken aback by the brown eyes that met hers, the shade all wrong for her having never seen him so much as a shade darker than burgundy. “We’ll not solidify her relationship, merely insure her stepfather is behaving erratically.” He gave her hand a tug, and Bella went with him.

~AB~

They were well away from earshot of anyone when Bella pulled him to a stop.

“I….” She started to say, wringing her hands nervously. “What’s considered exposure?” She asked, looking up at him with eyes that nearly looked like her former human ones. It somehow made her seem vulnerable and fragile all over again.

“Why are you asking?” He asked quietly, terrified of the answer. Just as terrified as he’d been when he’d realized his usually lust-less mate tore into the throne room and ripped into two humans like they ere pieces of bread. Just as he had been when she confessed to desperately wanting the blood of her step-father before she said she left them.

“From the moment I looked at him, Phil became terrified. Like he knew what I was, or at least knew I wasn’t… me.”

“You haven’t changed, Bella, not in the ways that make you who you are. But it is possible that your stepfather has a sensitivity to such dangers. He is an expectant father, after all.”

“But him acting out of sorts? And me, I mean. I don’t think I acted weird, but what if-”

“Let’s not think of it.” Aro said, cupping her cheeks, a horrifying thought of doing this later and turning sharply.

Because if she had exposed what she was, he would have to do it. He would need to… it couldn’t bear thinking.

He leaned in and kissed her quick, then led her the rest of the way out.

He’d no idea how old he looked to a common human. Frankly, he was so old, he didn’t even really remember what his age was when he was turned. He looked young, he knew, though not nearly as young as Bella did. For them, it didn’t matter. But he wondered as he held her hand and walked through the square with his mate he wondered if any of the humans found them an odd pairing. Or what her mother would think.

They spotted her sitting on the edge of the fountain, frowning at her phone, her belly quite swollen with child. 

“Mom,” Bella said, getting her attention, and Renee looked up, smiling even before it grew into a much brighter one.

“Are you the boyfriend?” She asked in a very dramatic fashion, putting a strange sort of scandalous emphasis on “boyfriend” all while grinning coyly.

“Renee,” He said her name, and heard her heart flutter. He reached his hand out, “a pleasure to meet you.”

And as all polite company would, she took it.

And Renee Dwyer was exposed to him.

A flighty girl with hopes for a bigger life. A trip to the pacific coast, camping along the way. A chance meeting with Charlie Swan, and a whirlwind romance. A pregnancy and hope that turned to despair and feeling trapped. The birth of Isabella Swan, and a momentary spark of joy before the despair returned. Taking off with her newborn daughter back to live with her mother. Trying, trying so hard, but mostly rely on the steadfast mother to watch over Bella. Being better, but perhaps not good enough. Would it be so bad if one summer she just not return for her? Charlie would probably be better, more stable. Bella learning to take over the house and finances by the age of ten, and how could Renee ever give that up. A teenage Bella encouraging her mother to date again, all while staying at home, hold little to no social life. Meeting Phil, and falling fast and hard. Of getting married and being more than a little thankful when Bella left for Forks to live with her dad despite knowing she shouldn’t feel that way. Not missing her as she should. The momentary feeling of replacing her when Renee learned of her pregnancy. Of feeling that still.

Aro had sifted through all these in a fraction of a second and was disappointed he couldn’t really find anything about her to be endearing. She was a nice enough human when it came down to things. She loved her daughter and was glad she was happy, but Renee had often looked at Bella and saw the poor choices she had made and where that led her in life. 

Then he got to earlier, and he focused solely on Bella.

He damn near sighed with relief when there wasn’t a single thing about her actions or words that would have exposed their kind. Even when her eyes began to look darker from the contacts dissolving, Renee hadn’t noticed, and Bella turned away before the blackness of them could be revealed.

Aro smiled politely at Renee as he let go of her hand and pulled out of her thoughts.

“And you too.” She said coyly. “Bella has been very tight-lipped about you. Only that you were from Greece? And that you went to school here with her.”

He nodded once then peeked at his mate, wondering how she figured that to be the case.

Bella merely shrugged. 

“So do you have a last name? Or is just Aro, like Madonna or Cher?”

He’d no idea who those people were, and by the soft snicker Isabella gave, he was willing to wager it was some sort of popular culture reference.

He smiled back at her mother. “Aro Cigno.” He replied.

Bella made a choking noise, possibly on her venom, possibly by his choice of alias. He’d likely pay for the latter later, and Aro was very much looking forward to it.

Renee glanced past him, and her expression changed to one of exasperation. Aro turned, and as he did, he felt Isabella’s hand fall into his, gripping him tightly.

“Decided to come back?” Renee asked as a man came up to them, glancing apprehensively at Bella, then at Aro. 

“Yeah,” He said. “Yeah, I… I don’t know what got into me.”

“You must be Phil, then,” Aro said, offering his hand. It amused him that when Phil took it, he tried to give a firm grip, attempted to move Aro’s hand.

Phil was a rather boring type. He was an average boy, who grew into an average man, who really only nurtured his talent for baseball. Aro had never understood the Cullens love for the sport, and he had even less understanding of why anyone would want to make that their occupation. But Phil loved it, and he loved Renee, and in a distant sort of way, he loved Bella as well.

But today he felt as though maybe he’d never really known her. There was something dark about her, different. Something he was sure hadn’t been there in Florida but was now. As though all Bella needed was to not be with one of her parents and she was a different girl altogether. Dangerous. A terrible influence for her little brother.

And, Aro noted, Phil wasn’t too trusting of him, either. Thought he looked too old for his step-daughter. Perhaps was even the cause for the shift.

He was a very intuitive human for one who paid little mind to much else but his wife and his sport.

But Phil had already decided to keep his mouth shut and his opinion to himself. Aro’s hand didn’t read to Phil as cold stone, merely excessively strong, far stronger than the minor-leaguer, and had been exposed to the cold air all day.

“That I am,” Phil said as he let go of Aro’s hand. He put them in his pocket, then looked over Aro’s shoulder. “You know those two?”

Aro followed the man’s gaze and spotted Demetri and Felix on the other end of the square. What surprised Aro was the relaxed way the smiled and waved, not an ounce of their normal decorum to be seen. 

Bella returned it all just as enthusiastically. “They’re friends of mine.” She replied, smiling tightly at her mother and step-father. “So, you mentioned dinner earlier. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it. There’s studying we have to do, and papers.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Renee lamented. “But you think we can spend the day together, right? At least a few more hours?”

“We can try,” Bella said, glancing at Aro and biting her lip.

He could see the venom glistening on her teeth, and he knew that she was suffering greatly. They’d be hunting tonight, or at least she would be.

He placed a quick kiss on her lips, earning a coo from her mother. “We can try.”

~*~

After a couple of hours, they parted ways. Bella had gone through two sets of lenses, and her mother was more than wanting to return to Venice where they were staying to have a nap. 

Once they left Renee and Phil, Aro escorted Bella out of the city and made sure they were well clear of it before running through the trees and trying to find humans alone and available. As they waited among the trees, listening for a motorist, Demetri and Felix caught up to them.

“What were you two doing out?” Aro asked from his perch on a rock, sitting as dignified as he could. It was beginning to occur to him that he was spending more time outdoors since meeting Bella than he had since his very early days in this life.

“Master Caius sent us to ensure everything was well.” Felix replied.

Aro scoffed, “You mean he wanted you to spy. To see how our interaction with Isabella’s family had gone.”

“Yes, Master,” Demetri replied.

“How would he know?” Bella asked from near the edge of the tree line, frowning. “You could have said ‘oh, she ripped her step-dad’s neck out and bathed the city in blood. Or you could have said that Aro and my mom talked baby blankets for an hour.”

Felix snickered but sobered quickly with what might have been an attempt at a cough. Demetri smirked.

“I think he trusts we’d tell him if it was the former.” Demetri said, his tone a touch too casual given his status compared to Bella’s. “Mostly I think he was curious if you would say you would see them shortly.” And glancing back at Aro and seeing him watching, add a more serious, “Mistress,” to the conversation.

Bella rolled her eyes. “Don’t.” She said, the sound of a pathetic sounding vehicle puttering along the road. After a moment, she darted out, the sound of a car door, of tires dragging on the road before the vehicle found itself in an intimate position with a tree. A beat later, and the human half-screaming and flailing was subdued.

“I take it she encountered a very tantalizing morsel today?” Felix asked, glancing at Aro.

“Yes.” He replied, watching Bella drink, find his own throat a little scratchy but not enough to last. “But her first singer is rather off-limits to her.”

“More the pity,” Demetri lamented. “They are such a treat.”

Bella pulled her mouth away to say, “Not helping,” in a thick voice before sucking more blood out of the neck.

Demetri smirked. “You wait for the next one. Your lack of interest in blood won’t last then.”

Bella pulled her mouth away and tossed the remains aside. “It’s not that I have a lack of interest, I just don’t feel like I need it every second of the day. It’s not _that_ good.”

“I think you’ll change your mind once you’ve had a taste of something more rich,” Demetri teased, sounding almost as though he were flirting with Bella. Aro had seen the same behavior in his interactions with Heidi, and instead of correcting his guard’s behavior, Aro remained quiet and watched.

Bella went to the pair of them, crossing her arms and jutting her hip. “So tell me about your first singers then.”

“Oh,” Felix beamed, and in an instant, his whole posture relaxed. He leaned against a tree, smiling dreamily at the sky and crossing his arms. “My first was not long after I changed. It was someone brought in, and I remember ripping Santiago away from them because I had to have it. Had to. And, believe me, once you taste it you understand. It’s everything.”

“Don’t oversell it.” Demetri chided. “Mine was while I was still with the Egyptian coven. I stalked her for days, waiting for my chance to have her alone. And she was everything I had expected her to be, but I hadn’t lost my mind to it either.”

“She,” Bella noted. “Did you… were you ever… attracted to her.”

“I see you learned about the halfbreeds.” Demetri said with a cringe. “No. Food is food. I understand why some of our kind may look at a human and see something there. Love is love, of course, and you can’t fight soul mates. It positively baffled me how Edward Cullen could fall for his singer knowing what the consequences could be, though perhaps he _didn’t_ know. But I don’t think those that make the halfbreeds typically love their singer, just decided to channel their bloodlust in another way.”

“You’re telling me that, prior to my arrival, that if a beautiful man had been your singer you wouldn’t want to seduce him?” Felix challenged. 

Demetri glared back. “Are you saying you would?”

“No.” Felix grinned, and Demetri rolled his eyes.

“So they bother you? The half vampires?” Bella asked.

“They unsettle me,” Demetri confessed, a fact Aro had known well about the young man. “I have seen children grow up, their natural progression. They aren’t natural. Their hearts, their breath, their smell. To see one hunt and have no change to their eyes. To see one jump and run like us but blend in among humans. They never age once they reach maturity. They half freeze, they die looking as they did when they reached maturity. And to think that one must … it doesn’t bare thinking.”

“It _is_ unsettling.” Bella agreed. “Hey, when were you going to show me that other bike in the garage.”

“No, not that one,” Felix cut in, his mate amused by the vehemency. “That one’s my favorite, and if you crash it-”

“I didn’t crash the last one. I’m not human Bella anymore.” She smiled, giving him a friendly punch in the arm.

Aro watched them continue on like that for some time, smile, laugh, and converse.

He knew they likely spent time together, knew they favored Bella more than anyone and respected her greatly. It simply hadn’t occurred to him that what he was seeing in their minds when he witnessed their interactions was a friendship. She had made friends with the guard, and he found he wasn’t as horrified by the idea as he thought.

~*~

The moment they were back in their rooms, Bella had pinned him against the wall, and he couldn’t help but grin.

“Aro Swan.” She said, arching her brow, trying to sound put out but was clearly amused.

“Do you not like it? I have no last name, it’s merely practical I take yours.”

“You didn’t have to give her a name at all.” Bella reminded him, her hands trailing down his chest and opening buttons along the way. “You could have kept the mystery alive.”

“Like this Cher and Madonna she spoke of.”

“You don’t know who they are?”

“Not the faintest.”

“Old, so very old. My ancient, decrepit man.” She said as she kissed his neck.

“You don’t seem to mind,” Aro noted, and he wasn’t sure if it was a reward or punishment when she licked.

“I’m pissed that I couldn’t call you out on it.” She told him, abandoning his upper body to start on the lower. “And I hate that I _liked_ it. It’s making me… possessive.”

“That explains what’s happening here.” He said with a smirk. “By all means, possess.”

She laughed, stopping her assault and resting against his shoulder. “It means more than I can say that you were there for me today,” Bella confessed, shifting her hands on his body so she could hold him rather than undress him. 

“You did well, _mia amata._ But I’m afraid this will need to be the end of your relationship with your mother. At least in person.”

“Next time she spontaneously visits, I’ll lie and say we went to France.” Bella agreed. “I can’t be near Phil again. I don’t think I could have stayed if I hadn’t had you with me. I really don’t know how Edward did it.”

“Edward was more intrigued by the fact he couldn’t hear you than his desire for your blood. And later, he fell in love with you. But I recall from his mind that when he sucked the venom out of your hand and tasted your blood, he wasn’t sure if that love for you would be enough.” He told her, turning to kiss her forehead in case she needed the reassurance. “That should have been his first clue you and he weren’t mates.”

Bella hummed in agreement. 

“You, Demetri, and Felix are quite close.” He remarked.

“Please don’t say you’re jealous.” She groaned.

“No,” He assured quickly. “I can see that there is nothing to be jealous of. I’m simply stating my observation.”

She lifted her head up and met his gaze, her eyes that much brighter from the extra blood she’d had today. She’d had to have been feeling quite full, which was another reason he’d been so surprised at her enthusiastic actions upon their arrival in their space.

“Do you mind?” She asked him.

He considered it, the propriety that was lacking with such friendships. Aro weighed what Bella should be, and what she chose to be, then the benefits of having such friendships when she was supposed to be above them. They were their guard, and she their queen - excepted or not - and yet the thought of telling her to end it broke his heart.

“I do.” He admitted. “But I’ll not deny you. They should know, however, that the behavior I witnessed this evening shall not happen in front of the rest of the coven. They must show you respect.”

“Heidi, too?”

“Yes,” He said firmly. “And any others whom you manage win over.”

She beamed and kissed him, which began to snowball into the passion that ceased when she found humor in his words. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *How is your Italian coming along, my dear  
> You're getting better, ancient.
> 
> Thanks again to all of you reading. I really hope it doesn't feel too slow going, there's a lot more brick laying than I anticipated for this second half but hopefully it will be worth it.  
> Should have the next chapter up this week! Until then.


	28. Chapter 28

Aro had bought her a bike.

And Bella absolutely loved it.

It supposedly wasn’t a gift for any particular reason, though it had come in February. Bella wasn’t sure if it was a weird sort of Valentine present, something to do with the birth of her brother on said holiday back in the US, the six-month marker of her change, or simply a bribe to try and get her to participate in the coven more.

She really didn’t know, and she really didn’t care. She loved tearing down the highways of Italy, the rush of something that would have been immensely dangerous if she’d still been human but now she could enjoy without a care. She loved feeling the rush of wind against her skin and through her hair.

Heidi much less so.

“My hair is a mess,” She complained as they left the parking garage and headed inside the castle, fussing with strands that fell into place with just a touch of being windswept.

“Your hair is perfect.” Bella retorted. “It’s impossible for it not to be.” 

“Flatterer,” Heidi smirked. “Though next time we spend time together it will be shopping. You’re in desperate need of an upgrade to your wardrobe.” She said, glancing down at Bella’s usual attire of dark wash jeans and boots, the sweater she wore currently beneath a leather jacket that was worn strictly for aesthetic purposes.

“The next time Alice Cullen comes to visit, you should really meet properly. You two would get on well.” Bella smirked back. 

Rounding the corner, they came across Jane standing stoically in the middle of the hall, but in such a way that Bella and Heidi couldn’t move around her.

“Yes?” Heidi asked in a sickly sweet way that Bella always found a touch amusing.

She may have had the gift of charm, but when she didn’t care much for someone it was evident. 

Jane didn’t seem to care, merely giving the faintest smile like she was picturing all the ways she could make Heidi hate existence if only she would be allowed. She then turned to Bella and sobered.

“Master would like you to come with me.” She said.

Bella frowned. “Aro would just come for me himself.” She pointed out.

“He’s indisposed at the moment,” Jane said simply, waiting.

“Well, mistress.” Heidi teased, waving Bella on. “Let’s not keep the child waiting.”

Jane’s glare snapped to Heidi, and then Heidi was down on the ground in an instant, clutching her sides.

“Stop.” Bella demanded, and when Heidi didn’t seem to have relief, she barked, “Jane!” 

Jane stopped, more likely because Bella’s voice would have been heard by far more than those nearby, and there might be hell to pay if it word got around that she hadn’t listened the first time. She glared for a moment, and Bella was pretty sure Jane was trying to get past her shield, just a little. But then she seemed to remember herself and sobered again.

Before they drew attention, Bella gestured forward. “Lead the way.” She said, glancing back at Heidi to make sure she was alright.

Heidi was still slumped on the floor but managed to look up and nod, assuring Bella she would be okay in a moment. 

Jane began to lead her through a strange part of the castle that Bella had yet to explore. She figured she had the rest of eternity, why bother going where she hadn’t needed to? Up, up, up they went, and Bella had wondered if maybe this was where Caius’ study was. She’d been to Marcus’, the two of them discussing books and music there one evening when Aro had been preoccupied with correspondence.

At the top, Jane opened a heavy door, and Bella was led into a sitting room decorated in cream colors and gold. Everything seemed so light, bright compared to the darker tones the rest of the white marbled rooms tended to sport. It was a bit smaller than the rooms of the brothers, but Bella supposed that was to make room for whatever was behind the three doors on the back wall.

Even those doors had gold on them instead of the normal black metal, and they were painted white instead of the dark browns of all the others.

_ A gilded cage _ .

Jane smiled at Bella in a way that spoke of all the ill intention this trip was laced with and waved her hand toward the two vampires in the room.

One sat on a fainting sofa, smiling serenely at absolutely nothing if the direction of her gaze meant anything. Bella was reminded of Sleeping Beauty because she looked so much like the princess Aurora from the Disney movie she wondered if the vampire had somehow inspired her. She was dressed in white as well, the dress very old in style like those depicted in ancient Greek art.

The other stood nearby the sofa, somber, darker in coloring in every aspect. Beautiful as well, of course, but not as content.

“Mistress Bella, have you met Mistress Athenodora and Corin?” Jane asked innocently, and the blonde turned to Bella.

“Oh, hello.” She said in a strange, Stepford wife way.

“Hi,” Bella said.

Jane giggled then turned, leaving them all alone together. The door closed behind her, the latch clicking bringing to Bella’s mind the finality of a jail cell locking.

It was painfully clear what was expected to happen.

“You were called mistress.” Corin stated, getting Bella’s attention. “You must be Aro’s wife.”

“Mate,” Bella corrected. “We won’t marry.”

Corin tilted her head. “Why not? I think you’d be happier if you did.”

Bell blinked. “No. I really don’t think I would.” She turned to Athenodora and smiled, moving at once to sit next to her. “It’s really nice to meet you, I’ve lived here for half a year and I’ve yet to see you once.”

Athenodora frowned. “Of course you wouldn’t, silly. Caius only likes for me to come down when it’s only he, Marcus, and Aro. It’s so nice to see him with his brothers.”

“That’s gotta be hard, staying up here all the time,” Bella said, glancing about the beautiful room.

“Oh, no,” Athenodora assured, reaching for Bella’s hands and taking them in her own. “I promise, you will love it up here. We’ll have oh so much fun, it’s been centuries since I’ve had an equal.”

_ Centuries?  _ Bella thought, fairly certain she remember Aro saying that he and Sulpicia split well over a thousand years ago.

Corin appeared at Athenodora’s shoulder, getting Bella to meet her eye.

“You’d be very content up here.” Corin assured, smiling as best she could while looking rather constipated.

It would have been far more amusing if Bella hadn’t known what she was trying to do.

But she didn’t feel content at all. If anything, she was really rather pissed. 

“Aro didn’t send me here, did he?” She asked, pulling her hands from Athenodora’s grasp and crossing her arms.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Corin said, her voice a little clipped as she bore her gaze into Bella.

Bella then looked to Athenodora, who placidly continued to grin. Curiously, because there was no way anyone could know, Bella focused on her shield and stretched it out over Athenodora.

She didn’t so much as flinch, but Bella was sure she was within it.

“Are you really happy up here?” She asked.

Athenodora looked about to answer when suddenly her smile wavered. “I… don’t know.”

Corin snapped her gaze to her mistress, panicked.

Athenodora frowned. “I… I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose… well, Caius wants me protected, I know that. He’s very concerned, you see, after what happened to Didyme.”

“Mistress?” Corin asked weakly, terrified.

“I do long to be with my husband.” Athenodora said wistfully. “To see others. Oh, but I understand, I do. It’s just….”

Bella pulled back her shield, and in an instant, Athenodora was smiling again in that robotic way. 

“How silly of me.” She said. “Of course, I’m quite content where I am.”

Corin seemed relieved, but Bella felt sick and heartbroken. She couldn’t keep Athenodora wrapped forever in her protection, and even if she tried, someone would figure it out. She wouldn’t be able to spend every moment of her day with her, and anyone watching would come to notice the connection between her more natural personality while with Bella, and this daze one when they were apart.

Bella reached across the sofa and hugged Ahtenodora tightly.

“Oh,” She giggled. “How nice. Will you stay, then?”

“No,” Bella shook her head, Corin making a whimpering sound. “I’m more content out there.” She said, getting to her feet and heading for the door.

“No, please. Please, you must stay!” Corin called desperately.

When the door closed between them, Bella stood on the stairs a moment and mouthed an apology to both the women. To one for not being able to save her, to the other for the likely punishment she’d endure.

Bella then went in search of her mate.

The first place she went to was the throne room, but she only needed to glance inside the open doors to see that no one was inside. Their study, then. She began to head that way when she noted Felix and Demetri coming from the corridor leading to the guards’ chambers. A quick glance around, and not really hearing anyone nearby, Bella stopped them.

“Have you guys seen Aro?” She asked, glancing about.

“No,” Felix said in a confused tone.

Demetri’s eyes unfocused for a moment, and then he said, “He’s not in the castle. And hasn’t been for a while.” With a frown, he asked, “Weren’t you riding with Heidi?” 

Bella shook her head. “We got back maybe ten minutes ago.” 

“I can the sense that Master Aro had left well before that. He’s… hours away.”

“Well, he’ll want to be much farther away for a long time,” Bella grumbled.

Felix grinned sharply. Leaning in toward her, he asked, “What did he do? Have a throne delivered for you?”

She glared back, “he sent me to Athenodora’s tower.” She hissed quietly.

“He wouldn’t do that.” Demetri shook his head. “Why would he do that now? If he wanted you there, you’d have been marched right up there the moment we all realized you weren’t going to be feral.”

“Then why would Jane-” Bella began before Felix growled, taking Bella aback. “…okay.”

“Jane has always been happy to be Master Aro’s favorite.” Demetri told her, explaining where his mate couldn’t. “And, in a way, I suppose she always was though I can’t say he really paid her and Alec any more attention than the rest of us. At least not in the last few hundred years since the Romanian’s attempted to attack again.”

“Now you’re here,” Felix said pointedly. “And you are the one who has his attention.”

Bella looked between the two of them. “But I’m his mate.”

“Yes, you are.” Demetri agreed. “And mistress Athenodora is master Caius’. And yet, when do we ever see her? When does he ever spend time with her? You can imagine, I’m sure, what Jane thought her cunning plan was.”

Bella sighed, rubbed at her face. “There’s no getting her to like me is there?” 

Felix laughed. “She doesn’t like anyone. No one but her brother, and the Masters. Well, perhaps not master Marcus.”

“And why would you want her to like you?” Demetri asked with a grin. “She’s hardly any fun.”

Bella snickered. “I suppose.”

“We were about to go out for a bit of a ride ourselves. You should join us.” Demetri offered, and Bella grinned.

“Yeah, sure, just… can you give me a moment? I just want to head to my room for a moment.”

“Meet you there,” Felix said, and the pair took off, and then so did Bella.

When she entered their tower, Bella had noted nothing really had changed since they left it earlier. The book Aro was reading from still sat by the chair, the book she’d been reading on the floor beside it. Everything was still in its place with the exception of a note in the center of the desk, and a quill pen laying across it.

_ Mia amata, _

_ Caius, Marcus, and I were invited to meet with friends of ours in Greece. Marcus, of course, did not wish to join, so he shall still be around the castle should you need anything. We’ll not be gone long, only a few hours -perhaps just past a day- and we have Alec as well Santiago with us so you can be assured we have some measure of protection. _

_ I look forward to seeing you when I return and perhaps may have a shiny trinket for you so I may see the irritation light your lovely eyes afire. _

_ Yours, _

_ Aro _

She grinned, wondered briefly what he could possibly bring back that would irritate her, and then decided it was best not to think about it. She left the rooms and went after her friends, deciding another bike ride around the countryside was a far better use of her time.

~AB~

“You’re miles away.” 

Aro glanced over at the goddess in the chair next to him, her skin sparkling in the sunlight, and a smirk curling at her lips.

Sulpicia was easily the second most beautiful vampire Aro had ever laid eyes on, and until Bella’s rebirth, no one else had compared. Even when he realized he’d harbored no romantic love for her, it had been difficult for him to part with her simply because she  _ looked _ like the sort of woman who would be on the arm of a man in power. She appeared regal, her skin gold even after the change, and her long dark hair the envy of many. It was one of the reasons he’d been drawn to her while she was human, and why he wished they could have been proper mates afterward.

“I suppose I am. My mind is back in Italy.”

“But I’m so glad you could make it here.” She assured, placing her hand on his sleeve, smiling warmly. “You missed our last introduction to the coven. It was such a shame.”

“There had been other matters.” He replied.

“There are  _ always _ other matters.” Sulpicia teased. “You still should have made yourself available to come to  _ my _ wedding.”

“And be forced to witness how I would have been parted from you forever?  _ Mia affascinante amica _ , how you think I could have endured such a thing I shall never know.”

Sulpicia’s grin became one of confusion. “What happened to ‘my dear’?” She asked. 

“Ah, I’m afraid I could not call you such a thing in good conscience.” He replied, then glanced to where Caius spoke animatedly to the bride and groom of the hour. “He seems a good sort. Where did Dianne find him?” 

“He was a nomad, passing through from the Americas.” Sulpicia replied, her eyes following Aro’s gaze. 

“ _ Americano,”  _ He grinned, his mind once more flitting to Bella. 

Sulpicia snapped her gaze back to him. “You have a new lover!” She concluded eagerly. “An American lover. Oh, Aro, how intriguing.”

“Not a  _ lover _ .” He said, caressing the word with all the affection he felt for Bella and met his former wife’s eye pointedly.

Her eyes widened, a moment of joy in them before she scowled. “Do not tell me she’s with….” She darted her eyes pointedly toward Caius, and then met his gaze again.

“Absolutely not,” Aro growled. He looked to his brother who if he had been listening paid them no mind. It was possible with all the noise it was hard to pick up their quieter tones, but Aro genuinely doubted he was listening in. “I’d not do that to Bella.”

“Bella, how fitting,” Sulpicia said, glancing around at the party-goers.

It was a fairly large gathering, one that would have certainly poised a risk if it had been anywhere but on a secluded Island. There would be a boat full of very drunk humans making its way to them shortly, and hours later that same boat will have found its way to the bottom of the ocean. Parties were rare things for Aro’s once-wife, and typically she and the small coven she headed would go on land to hunt. But a party called for something special, and when members from other covens came to her island to celebrate, Sulpicia ensured there would be something to drink.

And she always made sure to invite someone from the Volturi. Often, she extended the invitation to the three leaders and Athenodora. Mostly it was Aro who would go along with a few of the guard. For Sulpicia’s wedding, it was Demetri and Felix alone with a gift that Sulpicia currently had about her neck along with her golden V pendant, the rubies replaced with emeralds.

“So why did you not bring your American wife then?” Sulpicia asked with a devilish grin. “Worried she’d go into a jealous rage.”

“Bella has known about you since before she knew we were mates.” He replied.

Her grin fell. “Aro… was she human when you met?” When he didn’t answer, she grew concerned. “Are you sure, my dear one? Are you sure she’s your proper match this time?”

He knew why she asked, given her own history with him. 

He was overcome with a wave of fondness for her. 

“I felt it the moment we met, even when she was still human.” He confessed. “And I had fallen in love with her properly within the first week of our getting to know one another. She’s inquisitive, confident, witty. She certainly isn’t hesitant to say what she thinks. She called me a few colorful things in front of the guard.” He smirked, and Sulpicia’s eyes went wide with delight. 

“Oh, I think I like her.” She said. “But what must she had thought, meeting you as a human. How fearful her mind must have been. I know when I encountered you there was an otherworldliness to you that unsettled me.”

“She’d been friends with Carlisle Cullen’s adopted children, you recall him, don’t you?” He asked, and Suplicia hummed in agreement. “She had been courting one a few months prior to our meeting the first time. If she was afraid of me at all, I would guess it was because of my diet. But she claims she’s never been fearful of me.”

“If? Claims?” Sulpicia frowned. “Surely you know she’s lying. Why do you allow her to?”

“I can’t hear her thoughts,” Aro told her. “I’ve never been able to, not even when while she was human.”

Sulpicia’s eyes widen. “Mates indeed. A perfect match, how delightful. But you must tell me more about her courting one of Carlisle’s coven.”

“Who’s courting one of Carlisle’s coven?” Calliope asked as she skipped toward and then sat on Sulpicia’s lap.

Calliope was also lovely and complimented Sulpicia quite nicely. But while Sulpicia was a regal sort of beauty, Calliope was a dainty, almost adorable sort. 

She was petite, and her voice was higher, her features as soft as they were sharp. She had a darker skin tone than her wife, and her hair hung in waves down her back. She radiated kindness, but Aro had no doubt that when this woman hunted she was something to be feared.

“Aro’s mate had in the past, apparently,” Sulpicia replied, and Calliope’s eyes went wide with delight.

“You have a mate! Oh, that’s so wonderful.” Calliope exclaimed, reaching forward and clutching Aro’s hands, causing Sulpicia to cringe.

Calliope had no qualms regarding Aro seeing her thoughts. Truly, she was one of so very few who never had any lingering apprehension or discomfort that her every thought, every moment was his to see.

And he tried, out of respect for Sulpicia, not to look too closely at specific things, but it wasn’t as though he could filter the thoughts. Thankfully, Calliope withdrew before anything new could be seen, though it likely wasn’t an intentional move on her part.

Once back on Sulpicia’s lap, she looked around at the guests. “Where is she? Is she here?”

“No, she remains in Italy. She had just left on an outing with Heidi when your missive arrived, and since it made it to my hands rather close to the time of your gathering, I couldn’t wait for her return. I’d have certainly brought her along if she’d been at home.”

“An outing with  _ Heidi _ ? You let her mingle with the lessers?”

“Oh, who cares about that.” Calliope waved it off. “I want to hear about the courting. Yours or the Cullen boy, I’m not fussy.”

Sulpicia only rolled her eyes before wrapping her arms around her wife, settling in for the story until the boat with dinner arrived.

~*~   
  


When they returned, he summoned Bianca to the throne room. It was late, and she had likely been asleep, but he didn’t really care all that much. The day before when she delivered the mail, they had dismissed her rather quickly. That, Aro had come to realize shortly after, was a mistake. 

Marcus, who had been in the throne room when they arrived, merely sighed when he and Caius took their places, knowing why they were meeting with the secretary and voicing his disapproval without saying a word. Aro glanced at him with a touch of annoyance, wishing for just a moment that Marcus would  _ care _ that standards hadn’t been met. Then Aro took in his brother’s continence and forgave his dispassionate attitude.

It didn’t cause his own displeasure to wane.

It was a bit too long for Aro’s liking for her to get to them. It certainly wasn’t doing her any favors. 

When the doors to the throne room finally opened, he smiled at the sleepy blonde and got to his feet.

“Bianca,” He said cheerfully, startling her a little more into wakefulness. “Thank you for coming.”

“O-of course.” She stammered, her smile fleeting and unsure. Her heart began to race as she glanced at Caius, and she quickly returned her focus on Aro.

“My dear, you’ve been a wonderful secretary,” Aro started as he slowly made his way toward her. “Quite punctual, very polite. It’s just… there was an invitation yesterday that I had come across rather late. One that was of the utmost importance. Relations between us and other covens can’t risk deterioration, especially when the leader is a very dear friend of ours.”

Bianca frowned. “I-I’m not sure what you mean. I always hand off everything as soon as it arrives… unless you’re, umm… in the middle of a meal, of course.”

“Of course.” Aro acknowledged with a nod. “I did say you were punctual. At least you had been before this incident.”

Bianca’s eyes widened, understanding dawning on her, and she swallowed nervously. 

“Aro, are you terrorizing our secretary?” Bella asked before she breezed into the throne room.

Bianca remained frozen in fear as Aro turned his attention to his mate and frowned. 

“Have you and Heidi been out this whole time?” He asked her, taking in her clothes and hair, seeing the former was the same as when she left the day before and the latter was extra windswept.

“No, I’ve come and gone as I’ve pleased.” She said, an edge of something Aro didn’t like in her tone. “Why do you look like you’re about to have a midnight snack?” She asked, the edge gone as she glanced at Bianca.

It had been a couple of months since she’d been this mercurial, not since she was freshly newborn and everything overwhelmed her. 

“Do you know where I was,  _ mia amata _ ?” He asked carefully.

“I’ve no clue, Aro.” She replied, the formality of her tone throwing him for a moment. 

“A wedding.” He responded.

“Oh?” She asked in a disinterested tone.

“Yes. It would seem someone from the Greecian coven had found their mate, and there was a celebration in which we were invited. We’d nearly missed it as we had only received the letter yesterday. Travel had to be rather rushed.” He looked to Bianca, glaring. “Had the invitation been delivered more promptly, we’d have been better prepared. Had a more appropriate gift, and a greater number of the coven with us.”

Bianca’s eyes widened, and she began to tremble.

“Aro, had it ever occurred to you that the mail was slow?” Bella asked, crossing her arms. 

“What?” Caius asked, and Bella glanced at him before meeting Aro’s eye again.

“It could have been slow. It happens. Weather, issues with traffic, or the border. Unless there’s super-secret vampire mail I don’t know about, it would come to us through human means, wouldn’t it?” 

“Of course there isn’t vampire mail.” He retorted, bristling a little. “And are you saying Sulpicia would send the missive late? Would risk it not arriving in time?”

Bella arched a brow incredulously. She blinked, and her features smoothed again with a slight shake of her head. “How long do vampires normally wait to throw a party or wedding, or whatever it was? Normally, anyway? A day? A week? A hundred years?”

“What’s your point?” He asked sharply.

“My point is that maybe the letter, or invitation, or whatever was sent as soon as possible but only happened to arrive yesterday. Or maybe it was brought here by a vampire who ran,” She turned to Bianca. “Was it in the mail, or did someone drop it off?”

“Umm,” Bianca blinked, confused. “It was in the mailbox. Yesterday, I swear. It only came yesterday.”

“See,” Bella gestured to the human. “You can’t off her just because you nearly missed an invite from your ex-wife. Find the postal worker who does the route here in Volterra and have them for dinner.”

Aro stood stunned, unsure if he should be irritated by her halting the execution, or pleased that this was the most authoritative Bella had been when it came to coven matters in all her months with them.

“Go to bed, my dear.” Marcus said, and Bianca snapped her gaze to him, shocked.

Marcus smiled at her benevolently.

“But be aware that such reprieve will likely not be granted twice.” He warned her with just a hint of the predator he was, but mostly he was kind.

Bianca nodded vigorously, bowing to Marcus, Caius, and Aro before turning to Bella.

There was the softest, “Thank you,” from the human. It had likely been the product of mouthing the words, her breathing still heavy from when her heart began to race.

Bella grinned kindly at her and nodded once, then Bianca fled the room.

“I trust you’ll ensure this sort of intrusion on these matters will not happen again.” Caius said in a smooth voice, and Aro turned to his coven brother. “Or is she to take your place?” Caius asked, gesturing to Bella while looking at Aro expectantly. 

Aro narrowed his eyes, but it was Marcus who spoke.

“Our mates or wives have always been able to weigh in on such matters.” He said in a bored yet grief heavy tone. “It’s possibly because yours hasn’t been a part of the discussion for centuries, and mine has been dead for just as long that you have forgotten.”

“It’s fine, Marcus,” Bella said, her tone placating if not a little bitter. “I apologize for the interruption. It won’t happen again.” She said, and to Aro’s horror, she gave a slight bow of the head to Caius before turning and leaving the room.

“I believe I need to pay our dear Athenodora and Corin a visit,” Marcus said with a heavy voice. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“I’ll go with you,” Caius said. “I wish to speak to the latter anyway.”

The pair slipped off, and Aro remained alone in the throne room try to reconcile everything that happened in a very short time.

She couldn’t possibly be angry with him for leaving, he’d left a note. Yes, he could have called her, but it hadn’t really occurred to him in his haste. Notes and letters had been the norm for longer, and in the rush to ready it hadn’t occurred to him that modern technology would be more beneficial. 

No, she couldn’t be angry, that was not his Bella. If she were truly angry she’d let him know, not have this strange, passive-aggressive attitude that she’d exhibited. And her shifts in mood was unsettling as well, at least now that she’d been more stable for a while.

He needed to sort this out, discover what caused this change, and see what he could do to fix it.

Aro left the throne room in a moment, moving for their rooms where he was sure she would go.

He’d gotten halfway down the hallway when he smelled her. And just after her scent invaded his senses, her hand darted out and snagged his, pulling him down the side corridor to where the garden was.

Aro said nothing as she led them out into the moonlight, the garden empty of all but them. Bella still pulled him to the end farthest from the castle and looked around them as if making sure there wasn’t anyone hiding that she might have missed.

“What is it?” He asked her, confused. 

“First,” Bella said, “I really think you need to go easy on the secretaries. She would have been the third in under a year, that’s too many. You want to not draw attention to us, but going through that many secretaries will - at the least - bring whatever the Italian Better Bureau is knocking on the castle doors.”

Aro frowned, feeling what a human might refer to as whiplash. There was none of the edge or formality that had been in the throne room, only a slight tease. She was smirking ever so slightly, too.

And then in an instant, it was gone, though she still didn’t appear angry, or whatever it was she had seemed to be before. 

“Second, I’m a little put out that your note said ‘friends from Greece’ when what you  _ really _ meant was your ex-wife. Not jealous, but I do feel like maybe you were purposely leaving that part out. Especially since I wasn’t around to go with you. Actually, after you’d been gone for almost a day, I was beginning to think that maybe that had been the intention: wait until I was gone and leave me behind.”

“I’d have rather you been with me if I’m honest.” Aro replied, frown still firmly in place. “But Bella, I’m quite at a disadvantage here. I’m not sure what to make of all this, and I’m having a rather difficult time trying to decipher if I’ve angered you, or merely irritated you.”

Bella glanced around again. “Jane introduced me to Corin while you were away.” She said, and Aro felt a pulse of cold rage rush through him. “And Athenodora.”

“Why would she do that, I wonder?” Aro asked, his jaw tightening. 

“I don’t know,” Bella admitted. “But there’s something I think you  _ should _ know.”

“Oh?” Aro asked.

“I managed to talk to the real Athenodora for a moment.” Bella said, and it took Aro a second to realize what she meant. The rage fled as overwhelming pride swept over him. Bella must have noticed it because she smirked and lifted her chin for a moment before the pride faded. “I couldn’t help her.”

“She knew what life would be like when she agreed to it,” Aro assured her.

“She agreed?” Bella asked, surprised. “Because she sounded pretty miserable.”

“I would imagine she didn’t expect the level of isolation Caius has kept her in.” Then the rage returned. “But why would Jane have brought you up there, I wonder?”

“I’m not sure, and I don’t think we need to know. Not yet. Let’s just see if maybe she was being a kid and trying to… get rid of the wicked step-mother.”

“She has no right to-” He stopped as the words sunk in. “What did you just call yourself?” 

“Well,” Bella shrugged. “It’s sorta like what it is, isn’t it? She sees you all as sort of father figures, you especially since you created her and Alec. And… I mean she’s sort of forever twelve.”

Aro barked a laugh, “Yes, I suppose she is.” He tilted his head, looking at his mate in the moonlight. “Are you actually angry with me in any way, or was the attitude for show?”

“Well, again, not thrilled to find out that you took off to see your ex-wife at the drop of a hat, and left me a note.” 

“It’ll not happen again,” He assured pulling her into his arms. “Though I must admit hearing that you were targeted in some way while I was gone does make the tower have a bit more appeal.”

“Don’t you dare.” Bella growled.

“I wouldn’t. Appealing as it is, I find your friendship with the others a better deterrent for future manipulation.” He placed a kiss on her hair and looked up at the towers above them. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach, but he couldn’t figure out why beyond the idea that Jane would attempt to trap his mate.

He’ll have to inform Caius and Marcus, discuss with them if she should be punished in some way. He was loathed to do it, but if it was needed….

“Did you actually bring me back something?” Bella asked, pulling him from his morose thoughts and causing him to smile.

“I did not this time, which is probably for the best. I managed to irritate you with my actions alone.”

“You usually do.” Bella teased, and he squeezed her a little tighter.

“You know how you acted this evening?” He asked with a lilt of a tease, feeling Bella shake her head against his chest. “You were what one might call regal.”

“It’s a one-off, I promise you.” Bella said firmly, and he chuckled.

“We shall see,  _ mia amata.  _ We shall see.”

~AB~

Vampires didn’t need to lie in bed, but Bella never complained when that’s how she and Aro ended up many nights. Not all of it involved one of the only reasons vampires even used beds, either, though that was still something that happened often. Honestly, she was sure it was simply one of those carry-overs from her human life since she nearly always had a book with her.

But they were talking this time, simply wrapped in one another’s presence after the events of the last two days.

“I could look into her mind,” Aro said, “See what she had been thinking.”

“And what would you do if you found something there you didn’t like?” Bella asked, running a barefoot over the back of Aro’s leg, the feel of the fine wool of his pants a pleasant feeling since it couldn’t tickle the padding of her toes.

Aro sighed. “Depending on the severity, I would have to punish her. And… punishment could mean her execution, depending on her intent.”

“So why look?” Bella asked, her fingers trailing along the skin just beneath the collar of his shirt. “Why risk needing to do something you don’t want to? It’s not like I wasn’t protected?”

“But what if you weren’t?” Aro countered, his voice soft while his eyes were hard with the fury not directed at her. His fingers pressed hard into her back, then he immediately relaxed, moving his hand in a soothing motion even though he hadn’t actually hurt her. “What if you weren’t able to block Corin’s powers? Like you can’t block our friend Jasper? What if I returned from Greece only to find my mate addicted to false contentment she didn’t need?” 

“How do you know I’m content?” Bella teased and was pleased to have him smile, have Aro’s eyes shift from that cold anger to the warmth she adored.

“I suppose I don’t,” He conceded, using the leg slung over Bella’s to pull her closer. “What can I do to make you happy,  _ mia amata _ ? What would please you?”

She kissed him quickly, “Well,” Bella began before her phone rang. “Hold that thought.”

“I’m beginning to loath that infernal thing,” Aro said as Bella left the bed and headed down to the study where she left it. “It seems set on interrupting our more intimate moments.”

“It’s happened maybe one other time.” She countered as she picked it up and saw the name on the screen. “Hey, dad.” She answered. “What’s up, you don’t normally call twice in a week.”

“You sound chipper,” Charlie replied in a far more chipper voice than Bella had. 

Frowning, she returned to the upper level, but instead of laying on the bed with Aro, she sat on the edge of it. 

“Good night sleep,” She said, glancing out the window and confirming it was early in the morning hours. “Now, what’s with the call?”

“I know you said you weren’t going to come home for the summer, and I know I said I was okay with that, and I will be for all of the others, I promise. But I really need you to come home for this one. Your semester is done in May, right?”

“Yeah.” She frowned. “Why do I need to come home? What’s going on?”

Charlie’s joy was a palatable thing, so Bella wasn’t expecting to hear someone was ill or anything of the like. It didn’t leave her anymore prepared for when her father announced, “Sue and I are gettin’ hitched!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I went to reply to the comments, it said the oldest was a day ago. Is this update too soon after that one? I don't know, but I'm tossing it out into the void anyway because you have NO idea how long I have been waiting to introduce Sulpicia. So much so that I brought her in so much earlier than I planned to.  
> Thanks for all the continued support! Maybe another update by the weekend, we shall see how the writing time flows the rest of the week.  
> Until then!


	29. Chapter 29

Alice squealed on the other end of the phone call, and Bella swore she could hear her hopping around. 

“Oh I’m so, so, _so_ happy you decided to stay with us!” She explained though Bella didn’t think she really had to. 

After assuring her Dad she would find a way to be at the wedding in May, Bella began to plot and ponder how this could be accomplished. 

A part of her feared that she would somehow stumble upon yet another singer in the form of some cousin she’d never met or a friend of Charlie’s, and she almost backed out a near half-dozen times. But this was her dad, and she’d been a part of her mother’s wedding, the least she could do was be there for his. 

Then she had to consider the fact that she, a vampire, was about to be step-siblings to shapeshifters who hated her kind. And one of them hated her in particular while she was still human. Seth, she hoped, would still be friendly with her since he had been friendly enough with the Cullens and even Aro to some degree. She was sure Sue knew what she was, or what she planned to be, so it would only be Charlie in the dark.

She would need so many pairs of contact lenses. Unless she started changing her diet immediately, but that was rather hard to do when you lived in a coven that maintained a natural diet.

She also realized rather soon that she needed to find a different place to stay other than her old bedroom. Out of respect for her new family, she didn’t want to bring her scent in and make them any more uncomfortable than they would have to be. Not to mention the very real possibility she would find the house wrecked of a dog, though that was an afterthought since she hadn’t exactly smelled one in her new life.

Her options after that had been pretty straight forward: the Cullens or a hotel.

A hotel would afford privacy, of course, but hard to explain how she could afford one to her dad when she was supposed to be a scholarship student who had just enough for the round-trip flight for the wedding ( _”Please don’t pay for it, dad. I promise, I have enough, I won’t starve because I used food money, I’m good.”)._ Admitting she was in an extremely committed relationship with someone, and that someone just _happened_ to be wealthy and covered her expenses would likely send her dad into an interrogation. She just hoped her mom hadn’t decided to randomly call Charlie after Beau was born and spill the beans on Aro. 

This meant the Cullens were her only suitable option, and yet she still couldn’t really decide to stay there before now. She’d only spoken to Edward after her transformation, and only because he came to see her. She had sent the Cullens a card and gifts for the holidays, and they had sent her a photography book of the pacific coast and a card in return. But an actual conversation hadn’t happened. Bella knew they were family, and being family of the immortal sort meant they could likely go far, far longer without talking than a normal one and there would be no ill will. It still felt like she was using them, and it stayed her hand for over a month before she finally cracked and made the decision. 

Alice called her immediately.

“Hello to you, too,” Bella smirked, then laughed when Alice’s joy didn’t end.

“I can’t wait to see you in person. And for everyone else to see you. We still have your room here, though I know sleep isn’t necessary, but it’s _your_ space. And I can help you get ready for the wedding! You’re going to look beautiful, of course. And we can go shopping while you’re here, though I have to admit it’s probably way more fun in Italy. Oh, Bella, I’m so excited.”

“Are you sure Carlisle and Esme would be alright with this? It’s their home.”

“And you’re family.” Alice reminded her. “You’re more than welcome here any time.”

Bella smiled, pleased to hear it. “How is everyone?” She asked.

“Everyone’s doing just fine,” Alice said. “Carlisle’s taken to adding a bit of gray hair putty I found on the internet to make his temples more gray, it helps his cover since we’ll be here a bit longer. Bree started school a little later, but she’s doing alright. Rose and Emmett come by every few months to say they’re visiting, and Jasper and I tend to have to stay out of the way.”

“Edward?” Bella asked.

Alice sighed. “He only just came home a couple weeks ago and he keeps waffling on whether or not to leave again. It’s… getting to be the day, after all.”

Bella frowned. “The day?”

“That he lost you,” Alice said kindly.

Bella frowned deeper. “He broke up with me a year ago in September.” She reminded Alice who couldn’t have possibly have forgotten.

“No,” Alice said in a gentle tone. “It’s nearly the day I took you to Italy to save him from himself. And the day you met Aro.”

 _Oh_ , Bella thought, having not really paid all that much attention. She pulled her phone away and looked at the screen, seeing it was the seventeenth of March. 

“He’s glad you’re happy,” Alice continued as Bella put the phone back up to her ear. “And he knows now that Aro had been right about what you were to him. But he still regrets all the things that led to that moment, and he’s not sure if he wants to be alone to mourn all his losses yet.”

“Well, tell him not to,” Bella said firmly. “Believe me, if he only _knew_ the amount of bad that could have happened if we stayed together. The … yeah, just, tell him it would have been very, very bad.”

“Okay,” Alice said, dragging out the word. “I never really saw anything like that.”

“Yeah, not sure you would.” Bella winced. “Listen, I have to go.”

“I know,” Alice said cheerfully. “Tell Aro hello for me.”

“I will,” Bella assured before they hung up, and she set her cell phone down with a sigh.

Well, that was settled. 

A month and a half to go, and she would be in Forks for a week, staying at the Cullens, watching her dad remarry into a family of shapeshifters.

“You’re a masochist,” Heidi said from the wardrobe, and Bella couldn’t help but smirk. “Honestly, going to this wedding, interacting with humans.”

“It’s my family,” Bella said. “And I didn’t magically die to them, I’m away at school.”

“How is a student going to afford these outfits?” Heidi asked, pulling out a very fancy black dress that Bella had yet to wear and showing it to her.

“I have a friend with a lot of money and a shopping habit.” Bella countered. “This wouldn’t be new to my dad. He probably wouldn’t question it.”

“Even still.” Heidi sighed. “I can’t imagine. I need to have fed before we go anywhere outside the castle and interact with them, I can’t imagine doing so for days without ever having a bite. Not to mention, how are you going to avoid eating? I’m pretty sure from those films I’ve seen on occasion that there tends to be food at those things.”

“I’ll just ask the Cullens for advice. They’ve gone through enough public school lunches, and I think I was the first one to notice they didn’t eat.”

Heidi hmphed, then went back to the closet. “So what are you going to take, anyway? I’ve never even heard of this town you lived in, so I’ve no clue what would be expected.”

“The wedding is a ways away.” Bella reminded her, going to Heidi’s side and peering into the wardrobe. “And honestly, none of these were what human Bella really wore. So, the most casual parts I guess.”

Heidi looked offended. “The most casual?” She curled her lip.

“I’m going to be there before the wedding and probably after. I’m going to have to… blend in. Look normal.”

“I suppose.” She agreed, then slowly began to smirk. “I suppose that means we can have a trip to Milan before then? Just you and I this time, though. The boys can be a bit of a buzz kill.”

“Aro was the one who wanted them with us.” Bella reminded her.

“Yes, well, I suppose I can’t blame the master for being a tad overprotective. And while I did like having them with us for a change, their complaining was a bit much. Why does it matter how much time we take when we have eternity?”

Bella shrugged and decided it was best not to point out that she hadn’t exactly enjoyed the trip herself.

“What will you be wearing?”

“I thought we covered this?” Bella asked, leaning against the wardrobe.

Heidi scowled at her. “I meant for St Marcus Day.”

Bella blinked. “Is that actually something we celebrate?”

Heidi chuckled. “Sort of. We dress up nice, I bring in some tourists, and usually, there’s a bit of a celebration in the garden. We listen to the locals cheer and chant, their music and revelry all for the sake of believing the vampires had been driven out of their city. We get a sort of kick out of it. It’s actually the one day of the year master Marcus is in the best of spirits, since it was him who made them all believe it.”

“How did that work?” Bella asked as Heidi flipped through and gave subtle frowns of distaste at a few pieces. 

“Well,” Heidi said thoughtfully, pulling out a black dress and looking thoughtfully at it before putting it back in the wardrobe. “There had been a nomad passing through and causing havoc. Masters Aro and Caius were away, separate missions, leaving master Marcus the only one about. He went outside, eyes a leaning black because of his thirst but with just enough red that the humans must have thought them brown. He left the castle, confronted the nomad, and the poor thing went fleeing. It was about then, of course, that the others began to return, and since the humans seemed to believe him some God divined man capable of doing so, Marcus spread his arms wide and asked us ‘begone! Do not enter these walls, foul creatures’. Your mate laughed for almost a solid day because of the antics, we had to wait until we could all pull ourselves together before we could sneak back in at night. 

“By then master Marcus had been proclaimed a saint, and the humans had thrown a celebration in his honor. He, of course, said he disappeared when they weren’t paying attention which just made him more Saint-like or something to them. I don’t know but it’s the only time of the year where he doesn’t seem to need Corin around to lift his spirits. So master Aro insists we celebrate it, and master Marcus does love hearing the celebrations.”

Bella grinned, liking the idea of Marcus genuinely smiling and enjoying himself with very little outside aid. No mood-altering contentment.

“This one for the festivities, I think,” Heidi said as she pulled out a deep, navy blue dress. Far too formal for everyday wear, it was sleeveless, it’s v-neck not too deep to be scandalous, and the length would hit at her knee. 

Bella pursed her lips and shrugged. “It is nice. Don’t really have any other reason to wear it.”

Heidi glared. “You’re immortal, which is reason enough to do whatever you want fashion-wise. Also, _mistress-_ ”

“Don’t,” Bella warned, grinning as Heidi laughed. “Fine, yeah, aright, point made.” She took the dress from her friend’s hand and looked it over. She nodded once then set it back in the closet. “So, St Marcus is Marcus. Anything I should know about regarding St Patrick?”

~*~

She’d almost lost track of time a couple of days later when the day arrived. She’d been caught up in reading for pleasure, doing it as slow as possible, savoring how she would never feel fatigued when the faint sounds of the city below drifted through the window. 

Bella had changed swiftly, putting on a simple pair of flats to go with the dress despite being able to walk in anything, and putting her hair half up for the sake of doing something with it. She’d caught Aro staring at her in the mirror the moment she sat down to pin it in place, but decided not to say anything and let him watch her.

Had hadn’t moved an inch as she slowly fixed her hair, something her vampire speed hindered her on and didn’t until the last one was in place.

“You look lovely,” He said from the doorway. 

“Thanks,” She replied to his reflection.

Bella didn’t know what to say or do, didn’t know if the moment that hung between them was something she should have expected or merely a product of her mind. She knew he likely hadn’t forgotten what happened on this day a year ago, she just didn’t know if it would mean anything. They had only met, after all. They hadn’t really talked or held hands. They hadn’t exchanged a kiss or a word of deeper meaning. It was entirely possible that she was overplaying things.

“I have a gift.” 

Or maybe she wasn’t overplaying them at all.

Aro came up behind her, and it was only then that she noticed the brown box in his hands. 

Setting it down on her vanity table, Aro opened it to reveal the near golf ball-sized diamond handing from a decorated chain.

“It’s beautiful,” Bella admitted because even though it wasn’t her style, not something she would likely wear often, it _was_ quite lovely.

“It had belonged to the royal family of England.” He said. “A gift given to us in our aid for ridding them of a nuisance some time ago. No one has worn it since it hung from the neck of a different queen.”

“I’m not-”

“I know,” He placated with a kiss to her temple. “But I believed it would suit you all the same.” 

Aro delicately swept her hair aside, and like many months ago, Bella tilted her head to allow him better access to the clasp one he had it in place. 

The diamond rested just above the Volturi pendent, and while they weren’t precisely complimentary, the new necklace stood out more, drawing the eye to it instead.

“I didn’t think diamonds were supposed to happen until the sixtieth anniversary.” She teased as she lifted her hand to touch the round gem at her neck.

“You remember the day,” He said with delight, almost triumphantly.

“You’re surprised?” Bella asked as he kissed her shoulder. “It was a pretty big day for me even as a human.”

Aro leaned back far enough away to meet her eye. “I suppose it was. Given your intention was to come here to rescue the boy you loved.”

“It was also the day I finally realized I was more than him. More than anyone who wanted to define me. It was the day I voiced what I wanted, and met someone willing to give it to me, even if he didn’t benefit from it.”

“Oh, but of course I would benefit it from it, _mia amata_. Even if you did not want me, knowing you would be out there, immortal, would be everything.” He reminded her.

Bella gave him a quick kiss on the lips and smiled. “Good thing for you I like Demetri and Felix so much. Heidi, too.”

He grinned. “Indeed.” He stood straight, offering her his hand. “We’ll be expected in court.”

“Would it be frowned upon if I don’t partake in the meal?” Bella asked as Aro placed her hand in the crux of his elbow.

“No, Bella. Marcus will understand, given it’s not your norm.” As they passed through the castle, he asked, “Have you considered what you will do for your diet while away?”

“What did you do?” She asked.

“Left the vicinity quite often.” He confessed. “Rarely did I stay in state.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Sure you won’t come with me?” She asked.

“I had best not,” He said as they approached the throne room. “It would look oddly suspicious, would it not? Esme’s brother showing up the same time you do?”

“I suppose,” She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder a moment before straightening so they could enter the throne room in a dignified manner. 

Aro took her hand off his arm and kissed it before they parted, Bella moving to join her friends and Aro to his throne. 

Bella glanced up at Marcus and noted he actually was smiling for a change. When she managed to catch his eye, she grinned, and he brightened a moment before turning to face forward. 

It had surprised Bella to see how many nomads came through, before and after the meal. Most simply came to them to say they wanted to say hello as if they thought passing by without dropping in was somehow offensive. Maybe it was, for all she knew it was one of those oddly unwritten rules.

Some had glanced in her direction, startled, eyes dropping to the pendents on her neck. Maybe they wondered, maybe they knew, but many nomads didn’t so much as a smile in her direction and very quickly turned their attention back to the leaders.

Aro greeted all of them pleasantly, brightly, taking each of their hands and seeing all of their thoughts. They had to have known it was coming, and she was always relieved when none of them seemed to have done anything against the law. A day without executions was a good one indeed.

Another nomad walked in, someone tall and proud, who strolled in with his head held very high, and Felix growled low in his throat. Bella darted a confused glance at him, but Felix kept up the decorum expected in the throne room by essentially ignoring her.

“Roque,” Aro greeted the man who promptly bent down on one knee and bowed.

“Aro,” He said with reverence. “I come with what I believe you will agree is wonderful news.”

“Oh?” Aro asked making to take the man’s hand before the vampire raised his head and met Aro’s eye.

“I have found you a mate. Your perfect queen.”

Bella laughed. She was the only one in the room to do so, though Marcus looked rather close. She would guess it was because everyone else was more or less conditioned to remain silent within these walls, but she couldn’t help it.

She met Aro’s eyes and sobered a little, guilt at finding the announcement terribly hilarious creeping in as he looked near murderous. 

Roque glared at her. “And who are you to laugh in such presence? What makes you think you will walk away with your head after such a display?”

“Roque, allow me to introduce to you Isabella. My mate.” Aro said tightly, and Roque looked between them with a growing frown.

“She is nothing.” He said dismissively.

Aro reached out and wrapped his hands around Roque’s neck and Bella sighed as hopes for an execution free day promptly vanished. 

But Aro did not severe Roque’s head from his shoulders. Instead, his eyes grew wide in wonder as what Roque experienced became his. Roque did not struggle in the hold, not once. And with every second he grew increasingly smugger.

“Remarkable.” Aro breathed, wonder and desire heavy in his tone as he let go of Roque and took a step back. “Oh, I would very much like to meet her. She resides here? In Italy?”

“She does,” Roque confirmed with a prideful smile. “Though she tends to go into Switzerland. I can bring you to her.”

“Indeed,” Aro said, his hands rubbing together in anticipation. “We should set forth tonight.”

“Am I to drive the vampires off again?” Marcus asked with only a little of his earlier good humor.

“You’ll want to see her for yourself, brother.” Aro said gleefully. “She is… remarkable.” He turned to Roque. “You will take us there tonight, near midnight. We shall not miss out on listening to those celebrations in the city below.” 

Roque bowed low again, and stood, smirking at Bella and glancing her over.

“Oh, Roque,” Aro called. The vampire stopped and turned to face him. 

Aro only darted his glance at Jane, and the tiny vampire brightened, turning her gaze to Roque and smiling as he fell to the ground, writhing and twitching. He then glanced at Demetri and Felix who promptly went over and picked him up, holding him still. Jane ceased her torment, and Aro closed the short distance between him and Roque, holding the man’s head in his hands.

“You are useful to me. You are only the second of your talents I have ever encountered, and your devotion to me is something not easily found. But you called Isabella ‘nothing’. She is not ‘nothing’, she is worth more to me than you or this vampire you have shown me.” He snarled a bit at the end, then sighed. “Alas, I’m torn between keeping you alive for your usefulness and excellent service through the years, or ripping you apart for your offense.” Aro looked to her then, his gaze softening slightly. “ _Mia regina?_ ” Aro asked her.

This was not the moment for arguing the title, and Bella knew that. Instead, she crossed the room to her mate.

“Don’t kill him on my account.” She said to Aro. 

“Oh, please, mistress,” Felix said, a touch of hope in his honorable tone. “For his great offense of you.”

“I would never-” Roque stopped, but was cut off by Aro’s tsking.

“Don’t lie. I know you are.” He said as if speaking to an unruly child. “You did not like her because she was not your find. You thought her merely another one around to help me while away the time. And you sense no gifts about her, so you think Bella unworthy.”

“Aro,” Bella sighed. “I’m really not offended.”

“I am.” He said through his teeth.

“You said he was useful.” She reminded him, and when he wouldn’t look away from the man on his knees, she reached up and turned his head toward her, cupping his cheek. “I won’t make the call. Not this time. But if he tries to set you up again it’s not his head that I’d be detaching.”

Aro’s eyes lit up. “What an intriguing idea.”

“Save it for another time. It’s Marcus’ day.” Bella said before turning to the man of the hour. “Marcus, would you like Rock here executed for not liking me?” She asked, purposely mispronouncing the ponce’s name.

Marcus smirked. “Not today.” He replied.

“Great, see.” She turned to Demetri and Felix who were as amused as they were disappointed. “Let him go for now.”

They released him, and Roque had the audacity to look over his shoulder at the guard as if they were beneath him.

“I believe there is thanks to be owed,” Aro warned as Roque began to rise.

“Thank you, master.” He said with a deep bow of his head.

“It’s not me you need to thank,” Aro said with acidic politeness.

Roque seemed to have great trouble saying the word, “mistress,” before getting to his feet and leaving the throne room.

Aro stared after him, his lips subtly curled and his jaw tense. “I want the pair of you, Chelsea, Jane, and Alec to join Marcus, Caius, Isabella, and I on this journey.” He told Demetri and Felix. 

The pair nodded and went back to their spots off to the side. 

Bella went to move as well but Aro caught her hand and held it a moment. He didn’t say anything as he looked at her, nor did he give away what he was thinking in his expression. He only gave her hand a subtle squeeze then let her go.

~*~

It was boring being up in the garden. 

Most of the coven was mingling with one another, scattered about in groups and talking, listening to the festivities below with amusement. Bella would have loved to have been with the ones she called her friends, and from the looks Demetri, Felix, Heidi shot her from time to time let her know that they wished she could have been there, too. Alas, she was stuck with the coven leaders, Athenadora and Corin behind them in the shadows. Chelsea hovered nearby shooting her glances from time to time that constantly made Bella pull at the hem of her dress, adjust her necklace, and generally act more human than was normal.

Aro had been busy between the throne room and the shift to the garden, passing along instructions for their trip, ensuring that word was passed to anyone in the area who could ensure a meeting with this mysterious vampire could go without issue. Now he was chatting with Caius, as well as that awful vampire who frankly just struck Bella as incredibly skeevy. 

Roque. Ugh.

“Would you care to have a stroll with me, Isabella?” Marcus asked, and Bella nearly sighed with relief.

“Yes, please.” She said, taking his arm when he offered it and they headed away from the other leaders. 

“I do hope you aren’t worried about yourself and Aro.” He asked as they started a circuit around the garden.

“No,” She assured. “Much as I really hate to admit it, the bond really is quite… strong. It does feel unbreakable.”

“You hate to admit it? Really?” Marcus tilted his head and frowned. “How odd. I suppose, though, in these times having someone matched for you is less desirable. But that’s neither here nor there. I had simply hoped Roque didn’t upset you. I know Aro wants to assure you himself but feels he should not in front of all.”

“Aro’s fine,” Bella assured. “I get why he acts that way. Roque, though,” She made a mew of distaste, and Marcus smiled.

“He’s not exactly favored by us. He’s merely useful. We had a vampire like him as part of our coven once. Eleazar, he’s now a part of the coven the Cullens call cousins, but he was a part of our guard until he met his mate. We allowed him to leave, hoping that if we needed him he would come to us.”

“What are their gifts exactly?” Bella asked. “Scouting?”

Marcus shook his head. “No, they sense a gifted individual. What their gifts are as a vampire, what gifts a human could possibly have if changed. Eleazar would inform us if there were vampires in a coven that could benefit us, and we would see if they would join us.”

“Or….” Bella said, looking pointedly at Chelsea who looked pointedly at her.

“Yes,” Marcus nodded. “Chelsea would also bind those gifted to us.”

“How many gifted members of the coven actually wanted to be here?” Bella asked quietly, glancing around at them all. 

“Not as many as I’m sure you would like,” Marcus replied honestly. “Threats from the Romanians, even the Egyptians at some points in time, have made us all tend to find comfort in assured allegiances. They are bound to us, and I like to think we treat them fairly. Don’t you, Isabella?”

“I suppose. But… they’re essentially enslaved.” She pointed out.

“In that regard, so am I.” He replied. “They don’t have blind devotion, Isabella. They just feel connected to us. I imagine it is similar to how the Cullens feel to one another. Or, perhaps, the affection you might have had for your step-father prior to your change.”

Bella wasn’t sure it was quite the same.

“So when we see this vampire, depending on what this gift is, Chelsea will be there to bind them to you three.”

“If Aro decides that it is to be, yes.” 

“And they don’t get a choice? They’ll just suddenly find themselves with a desire to leave their coven and come with us?”

“We do ask.” Marcus attempted to placate.

“And when they say no? I know about Renata, I know she was a part of the guard but the love of her family was too much. Not everyone we find has that.”

“No, you’re right.” Marcus agreed. “And so if they don’t have it, what is the harm in giving it to them? Eleazar was bound to us the same way, and then he met Carmen and the bond was essentially nothing. It was too strong, stronger than anything Chelsea can fabricate.”

“And what about those here who have their mates?” Bella asked, stopping Marcus before they could head back toward the others. “Afton is here because of Chelsea, but Demetri and Felix? Demetri was here first, he was lured from the Egyptian coven-”

“It wasn’t terribly difficult,” Marcus interrupted. “And I believe they have an equal reason for staying. It’s not as bad as you believe it to be, Isabella. You are not under her influence, so you can’t feel it. But I assure you, it’s not an oppressive thing.”

“It’s fake love.” She sighed. “Maybe not for you, maybe not for all of them, but it is. It isn’t getting a choice in who you want to be with.”

Marcus gave a sympathetic smile. “We should be readying soon.” He said instead of anything to try and counter her argument. He brought Bella around to where they had begun among the heads of the coven but stayed a sort of comforting presence at her side until it was time to leave.

~AB~

The problem with never getting to see into Isabella’s mind was that Aro was often left to guess. He hated guessing, hated the uncertainty of it. As much as it was always unpleasant to see every poor thought anyone ever had of you, at least you knew where you stood. At least you knew which way their leanings went. It’s why he never really gave much thought to Chelsea creating and strengthening bonds between him and his coven; they still tended to dislike him and what choices he made from time to time, but at least he knew they would be loyal to him still.

Bella he had no way of assuring it.

Not that he would ever want to taint their natural bond with influence from Chelsea. He imagined nausea was similar to the feeling in his gut the thought caused, though it had been an exceedingly long time since he’d felt it to be sure. 

But between the day, Roque’s declaration and subsequent dismissal of Bella, followed by her conversation with Marcus, a part of Aro wished he could have every confidence that she would never leave him, never want to.

“ _It’s fake love… it isn’t getting a choice in who you want to be with._ ”

Her words spoken to his brother in defense of those in the coven under Chelsea’s influence had not been entirely dissimilar to her initial reaction to finding out about their being soul mates. The anniversary of meeting one another and these were the words he heard her say from across the garden. 

Aro had been especially attuned to her since the idiot leading them now declared he found Aro a mate. It was never something he asked of the scout, and it was insulting on many levels to have Roque proclaim such a thing. Had it not been for Bella’s asking Aro to stay the worm’s execution, there would have been a lovely fire roaring in the castle.

There still might be, given Bella’s silence with him since that moment, given her words with Marcus.

At least she allowed Aro to help her with her cloak and offered him a small but affectionate smile in the moment. 

It was something he clung to as he, Marcus, and Caius followed Roque in formation in the dark of night, Isabella and the guard after them. Aro clung to those moments with his mate, fleeting as they were, and the uncertain taste of this vampire’s power he experienced through Roque’s memories.

He couldn’t wait, the anticipation making venom build in his throat.

Aro could sense the small coven as they approached, and Roque darted ahead, possibly to ensure there were no issues, nor was the gifted one hidden. It had happened before.

Then they were there, and Aro’s eyes immediately fell on the vampire in question.

“Here she is, Master.” Roque gestured broadly.

“Yes, I can see,” Aro replied, moving slowly toward the timid looking creature who was half behind two rather more robust vampires. The gifted vampire seemed meek, perhaps not much older than Bella had been when she was turned. “Hello,” he said to her. “I’m Aro.”

“Hello,” She replied. 

“This is Julie.” The older female vampire introduced her. 

“Julie,” Aro repeated the name. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Roque has shown me you’re quite special.”

“Don’t-” The male vampire made to rush Aro, but was quickly detained by Felix. The other one’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head, clearly wanting her coven mate to stand down.

Aro looked between the older ones, then approached Julie. The male struggles as Aro smiled at her and offered her his hand.

Julie looked first to the male, and then to the female, then met Aro’s eyes. She then clasped his hand.

Changed in the seventies and kept hidden. Her coven mates, Matt and Dominique, knew that they would draw the attention of the Volturi if word spread of Julie’s unique abilities. They were nearly exposed as something quite otherworldly when they stumbled across a human with a possible gift. That human had run shouting about them into the street and died before their eyes. The blood had been almost too much. For Julie, it had been, but Matt and Dominique pulled her away before the humans could see they mistook what they thought was her grief for what it really was.

“ _Your gift is quite unique_ .” Julie thought at Aro as he got to this part of her memories, the moments leading up to their touch, of how she was terribly apprehensive but understood from her coven mate that it would be in their best interest if she complied. That the fate of her friend was hinged on what Aro saw, and he might not like it. “ _And you’re really old. Ancient. You’re through all my thoughts and memories and I feel like I haven’t been even a fraction into yours_.”

Aro smirked and decided to continue the connection. He watched as Julie’s face and thoughts expressed enchantment, horror, terror, disgust, humor, fear, understanding, rage, and a spark of awe as she made her way through Aro’s thoughts until she got to the point where she could see how he felt about her.

“ _What a terrible burden_ .” She thought after easily five minutes. “ _I wouldn’t wish your gift on anyone._ ”

“ _I quite enjoy it._ ” He countered. “ _It comes in handy when you know the truth without any trace of a lie_.”

“ _Perhaps_ .” Julie agreed. “ _But the truth isn’t always pleasant, is it?”_ She asked.

 _“No_ ,” Aro agreed, withdrawing his hold on her hand.

“So,” Julie said stoically. “I already know the decision you intend to make, I’ve seen it. I’d appreciate it if we could get this over with as quickly as possible.”

“Chelsea,” Caius said, but Aro raised his hand and halted the command.

Julie frowned, looking between him and the vampire whose power she knew was about to be used on her.

He _wanted_ . Not _her_ , not in the way he knew Roque was anticipating. He wanted that talent of hers in his grasp. 

He could imagine her and Bella working together to create a greater shield. Julie and Demetri hunting down those who dare escape their sentence, or to further find the Romanians and their current whereabouts. Oh, she could use Marcus’ gift, and he could be free from the throne. It didn’t last, she didn’t retain the vampire or human’s latent gifts for very long. Only enough for it to be useful, to possibly get her out of a situation. Knowing this, it was unlikely she would touch anyone until Aro’s tactile telepathy wore off. She was exactly the sort of gifted vampire he coveted. Needed.

Wanted.

And it would be so easy. None of these vampires were mated, merely friends. He could kill the other two for risking their kind being discovered. He could simply have Chelsea sway Julie’s affections toward Aro. After all, she had empathy for him, his only having Bella in his life in which he could touch and not have to hear her every second.

It was Bella who stayed his hand. 

Bella and her words and request, and what she would think of him if he took this young woman - one physically not much older than her - and bring her against her will into the coven.

“Chelsea.” Caius snapped, growing impatient.

“Calm, brother,” Aro said, holding Julie’s eye with a grin that made her coven appear uneasy. “She’ll not be needed today.”

He turned to Caius then, met his eye, and widen his own a fraction before darting them quickly in Roque’s direction. Caius did the same and then smirked wickedly.

Aro then looked to Jane, darted his gaze to Roque again, then smiled.

Jane immediately had Roque to his knees, screaming out in pain. Aro then looked to Demetri and gestured. He moved and took hold of Roque by the neck, Jane ceasing her ministrations.

“I must say it is so very rare for someone to have me believe a lie.” Aro said casually, turning slowly toward Roque who struggled in Demetri’s hold. “You showed me an exceptionally gifted vampire. What I found,” he glanced at the coven, at Julie. “Was someone who could read thoughts. A talent I possess on my own.”

He was thankful none of them reacted outwardly to the lie, each one of them becoming still as statues as he spoke.

“No!” Roque protested, nearly freeing himself from Demetri in his desperation. A mere gesture and Felix released Matt to aid his mate. “No! She takes on the gift, master I swear! I saw her! I saw her produce a butterfly like the one they encountered. A-a-and she couldn’t do it again after.”

“This is the problem with being skulking sort of cretin, you don’t see enough of what you need to. I learned from our young friend that she did not produce the butterfly, merely had it created in her hand by the gifted one. A useless talent, of course, hardly one I would bother with.” Aro said dismissively, waving his hand as if to bat the thought away.

“Did we come all this way for nothing?” Caius asked as if the journey had been days instead of an hour.

“It would appear so,” Aro replied while looking at Roque. “A presumptuous, pathetic, pitiful man desperate for favor. Lied to me, insulted my mate, and then proceeded to waste our time with lies.” Aro gave a sigh, then flicked his hand at Roque.

Felix was positively gleeful as he and Demetri twisted the vampire in half.

Julie and her coven looked on horrified, and when Aro approached them he could understand their flinching. 

“Apologies, my friends.” He said warmly, opening his arms for a moment before bringing his hands together in a clap. “It would seem all our nights have been wasted. Go, think nothing more of this. You’re under no watch from us.” He assured, and Julie’s eyes sparkled though she said nothing.

“Thank you,” Dominique said, then looked to Matt as she put an arm protectively around Julie. A moment later, they were gone.

“Burn him,” Aro ordered, gesturing to the twitching remains of Roque. 

“He is still of use,” Caius noted dispassionately.

“No, he’s not,” Aro said firmly and looked to Alec who had made a found a decent branch and let the end. He touched it to Roque’s body, and they watched the pieces go up until they had suitably burned. Once the body was beyond repair, Felix grabbed a nearby bolder to smother the flames, and then the Volturi coven began their journey back to the city.

~*~

The festivities in the garden among the rest of the coven was still carrying on when they returned. The guard rejoined the others, though Aro noted the twins were merely there and did not socialize. Demetri and Felix rejoined Heidi and a few others, which wasn’t a surprise. They glanced back but their gaze didn’t linger long when they found Aro watching them from the doorway. Caius departed to see his wife, and Marcus had gone to his own study when they arrived. 

Isabella had lingered outside the castle, informing the rest that she would be up shortly as she lingered by the fountain.

It left him uneasy, but there were virtually no humans still about, and Bella promised not to be long. He didn’t particularly like the idea of why she might be lingering outside next to a fixture of unpleasant moments in her last year, yet didn’t have an inkling as to the reason why she would want to. 

So he respected her request and came up to watch his coven from a distance, taking in their interactions without them bring completely aware. 

He’d never noticed before how many of them seemed to be friends with each other. Little clusters of those who were closer to some than others, once in a while having one break off and go to another, like bees hopping from flower to flower. They seemed happy, or at least content, none of those present being under Corin’s influence and genuinely enjoyed one another’s company. 

Bella fit in among them and was happier among them than she was at his side. A year ago he couldn’t imagine it, but having gotten to know her Aro supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. 

He focused on the three she seemed the most attached to and wondered what it was about them that Bella deemed them worth her time. Familiarity? Perhaps, as they were the vampires in the coven she had interacted with the most in both lives. It may be that they were also the closest to her in physical age among the guard, or at least among those who didn’t have a stern belief that those in power and those who protected them should never interact. 

There was a pang, not jealousy or fear, but of something Aro couldn’t place. 

Heading back inside, he went to the throne room, thinking that their rooms would be too silent without Bella, and dreading the idea that she could be there and the silence would remain.

He was surprised to find Bella at his destination in the middle of the empty room, staring up at the ceiling.

“I thought this room was beautiful,” She explained. “But it felt really stupid to look at the decor when I was about to face what Edward painted as the most evil, vile vampires that ever existed.”

“And now?” he dared ask.

She smirked. “The room is still beautiful. Boring, but beautiful.” She turned to him. “Jury’s still out on the vampires.”

“The coven as a whole, or just those who lead it?” Aro asked.

“A whole,” Bella confessed. “I’ve got most of you pinned down, though.”

“And?”

She smiled. “Most of you aren’t too bad.” 

Aro cautiously crossed the room to stand before her, wondering what she was thinking. He impulsively touched her cheek and got the nothing he expected.

“Tell me the truth.” She said softly. “Was she a mind reader like you?”

He shook his head. “Not precisely. She was exceptionally gifted,” he told her just as quietly. 

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that she, for a moment, was much like me.”

“So she saw into your mind?” Bella asked, and he nodded. “Oh.”

He was surprised by her disappointment.

“ _Mia amata_?” He asked, gently putting his other hand on her waist as she turned more toward the one cupping her cheek. 

“I’m a little jealous.” She confessed, and it seemed painful for her to admit it. “She got to see every part of you, all those things you get to keep to yourself. And I might be able to show… but I can never see. I’ll never know you as deeply as she does.” She laughed mirthlessly, then turned out of his hold. “Rock was right, she would have been the perfect mate for you.”

She barely got a few steps away from him before he caught her arm, spun her around, and put her hand on his cheek, holding it there.

“This blessed silence is the greatest gift fate could have bestowed on me, considering how unworthy I find myself to be of you. To have your touch, you kiss, your pleasure, and never once hear what’s in your head, to never have your thoughts in my mind is beyond description. Can you imagine never being able to have intimacy without complete knowledge of your lover’s complaints? You hear their passions, their desires, yes. But you also hear them recall those they miss, those they thought better, more beautiful, more passionate. 

“And, _mia amata,_ my Bella, if you were privy to every thought I’ve had, every moment of my exceedingly long life, you would run. You would flee to the farthest edges of the Earth and wish to never speak, nor hear mention of me again. You saw Julie’s face, I’m sure you did. I couldn’t imagine seeing those reactions from you.”

“How do you know?” Bella countered. “How do you know that’s how I would react?”

“Because of all I’ve done. The thoughts I had, even just this evening. Julie knew I was more than willing to kill her coven mates and bind her to me, and I’d have done it without a moment’s consideration had it not been for you.”

“Me?” Bella asked, pulling her hand away. “What, you’re saying I stopped you somehow?”

“You were the angel on my shoulder, as it were.” He told her. “Though it still had not stopped me from destroying Roque to insure things would never come to light.”

“What things? What could he possibly have said?” Bella asked.

“Julie could temporarily take on the gifts of others with a touch. She could only read my mind because my gift allowed her to do so. If she were to touch you, she’d take on your shield. Heidi her charm. Roque was the only one aside from myself that knew this.”

“So he wasn’t actually killed because of how he was with me?” She asked with a scrunch of her forehead.

“No,” He shook his head. “He was killed because he was a loose end.”

Bella nodded thoughtfully, turning away, taking a couple of steps toward the thrones. She stepped up on the dias and stopped before Aro’s, wringing her hands. “You really won’t go after Julie? Their being free, that wasn’t a lie?” She asked, turning to face him.

“It was not.” He assured her.

“And she knows that? She knows it’s the truth.”

“I believe so.” 

Bella nodded, then bowed her head in thought.

Aro waited, and while time meant nothing, it felt as though it had dragged on for an infernally long time while she remained perfectly still.

Then she did something that surprised him: she turned toward him and sat on his throne.

She gave him a sly grin, crossing her legs and bouncing her foot as she placed her hands on the armrests.

“ _Sembri perfetta sul mio trono_ *.” He said with every single bit of desire the scene brought up. He burned the image into his mind, searing it there so he could recall it as frequently as he liked.

Bella shrugged, “Well I figured I should sit on it at least once since I seemed to have been the power behind it today.” She said in an amused way.

He moved to stand before her, and she tilted her head back, moving her arms from the armrest to her lap as if anticipating him caging her in.

Aro instead dropped to one knee in front of her, taking her hands in his, drinking in her wide red eyes.

“A part of me is terrified to admit it, but you truly were. I’d no idea what sort of role you would play when you arrived here, but I really wish you would endeavor to do more like you had today.”

“It was a one-off,” Bella swore, but he smirked.

“You keep saying this, and yet you consistently find ways of taking up the mantel. I’m not sure you can resist it altogether, _mia regina_.” He teased, and he was pleased to hear her growl before fisting his hair and bringing his grinning mouth to hers. 

“You had better not start calling me that. My dear and my love are fine, but that?”

“I’ll not. Often.” He said, getting to his feet and pulling her (regrettably) off the throne. “The party is likely still carrying on if you would like to join them.”

She shook her head, then pressed her forehead to his chest, that endearing gesture still there after all this time. “I think I’d rather go upstairs and read with you. Or take a bath. Just… be with you for a bit, is that alright?”

“Of course.” He said, stepping back and taking her hand, then leading her up to their rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *You are perfect on my throne
> 
> Let me tell you, there is a part in the following chapter that made me stare at a blank page for a good day and a half. Then when I did get words down, I had to rely on my very best writing friend to agree that it was a wonky mess. It was, and I only fixed it this morning, which is why *this* chapter only went up now.  
> Things are starting to ramp up on my end. I have no idea how many chapters there will be, just an FYI. I keep thinking 10, but it very well might be more.  
> Until next time!


	30. Chapter 30

It hadn’t been long after St Marcus’ day that a chair appeared in the throne room. 

The day it arrived, Bella had known something was up when her mate was positively adamant that she be in court that day. Normally Aro didn’t care who was there or when so long as they weren’t expecting anyone, or there wasn’t any sort of a celebration. When Bella had walked in, her eyes immediately fell on the piece of furniture.

It was black and gold like the thrones on the dias, only with a lower back, and sat off to the side where she usually stood with Felix and Demetri. The former was looking very much like decorum was the only thing keeping him from laughing at her reaction, and Demetri couldn’t keep the hint of a smile off his face despite usually being far better at being stoic.

Aro was positively beaming like a smug little loon.

Bella had thought of storming out, knowing precisely all the reasons he’d done what he did. Instead, she went to the table of books, plucked one up, and sat her chair to read. She could barely keep from smirking when Aro laughed in delight.

It remained a fixture there for the last month and a bit, her own little spot where she would bring some books and settle in to at least spend some time in the same room as her mate. 

“And what horrendous filth are you reading today, mistress?” Demetri asked in a teasing way while remaining straight-backed with his hands clasped behind him. Bella knew without even looking he was reading over her shoulder and smirking ever so slightly.

“I believe you already know,” She countered. It was a terribly, horribly, completely inappropriate book to be reading in a room where important matters were meant to be discussed, and she supposed to be seen as something above. Bella really didn’t care.

“Shut up, I’m waiting for her to turn the page.” Felix grumbled, and Heidi hummed in agreement.

Three sets of eyes from the dias looked their way, and only two of them had even the slightest bit of amusement to them.

Bella turned the page as loudly as possible without tearing it.

She, and apparently the three vampires behind her, were nearly finished the book when the doors to the throne room were opened, and Bianca came strolling in.

“What is it, my dear?” Aro asked her.

“You have an unexpected guest,” Bianca said. “She says it’s rather urgent.”

“Then, by all means, send her in,” Aro gestured, and Bella closed her book and set it aside.

She straightened up in her chair and watched as a blonde-haired, golden-eyed vampire came striding into the throne room with her head high and her shoulders back.

“Irina,” Aro greeted with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “What brings you here.”

“I have information I wish to give, and questions I would like answered.” She replied with shaky confidence.

“Well, let’s see what you have, shall we?” He asked offering his hand.

Irina looked at, glanced around, and then took it nervously. 

Bella watched them closely, wondering what Aro would do, knowing Irina had seen Jacob. He’s already lied to his brothers once since she was here, and for her at that. She nervously waited to see what he would do, all while trying to appear as unaffected by it all as possible.

When Aro let go of Irina’s hand, he clasped his together and sighed. He shook his head mournfully.

“I’m afraid what you wish cannot be granted.” He said, confusing most everyone in the room including Irina.

“What?” She laughed incredulously, glancing between him and Caius. “It killed my mate! It needs to be destroyed. And if there is one there are bound to be others.”

“I’m afraid you’re rather confused my dear.” He said, then gestured to Bella. “Isabella grew up in that region, I’m afraid she would know if there were any.”

Bella frowned at Aro, then met Irina’s eyes.

She scowled back, and Bella wasn’t sure why.

“I’ve heard of you.” She said as politely as possible. “Edward’s crush from school. The one he left, and then abandoned his family over.”

“Isabella came here only last year to save the Cullen from himself.” Caius informed her with a scowl. “And given she is Aro’s mate, I suggest you treat her with respect.”

Irina’s eyes fell to the floor for a moment before she turned back to Aro, squaring her shoulders.

“I don’t care what she thinks she knows, she couldn’t have been a vampire for long, and then she’s probably been here this whole time. They’re there.” Irina stated firmly.

“What are?” Marcus asked in a curious yet bored tone.

“A wolf! I saw a wolf, a werewolf!” Irina proclaimed.

Bella stilled, and if her heart could have it would have pounded through her chest she was sure.

Aro merely smiled in a placating way. “I know, dear Irina, that you saw a rather large wolf in the vicinity of your cousins’ abode. But, I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

“I”m not-” Irina began to protest, but Aro lifted his hand and she fell silent.

“Confirm for us all the time of day when you spotted this wolf. Was it day? Night?”

Irina frowned, considering. “It was daytime.” She replied meekly.

Caius snorted, “Pathetic! You don’t even know a proper werewolf.”

“Well, then, if it wasn’t the wolf who killed Laurent-” 

Caius groaned rather loudly, interrupting Irina a moment. 

“-then it was you.” She accused Aro. She pulled something small out of her pocket and opened her palm to show Aro’s golden lighter from their fight with Victoria.

It had been a blur when Bella had been human, so her memories now weren’t the best. But she found memories involving Aro, and even the Cullens to some degree were among her sharpest post-transformation. And because he was there, and it was his lighter, she could recall - though vaguely - dropping it in her haste to have the make-shift torch be a barrier between her and Victoria. 

She’d forgotten about it, and Aro looked at the object as if it offended him.

But while vampire’s memories could be prone to some fallibility, either because of their state of bloodlust or because there were too many other factors in place at the moment to capture things just so, Bella had doubted he’d forgotten about it entirely. He probably recalled it once on the plane on his way back here but thought it destroyed and therefore banished it from his mind.

He couldn’t have not known that this was how she was going to react. He’d seen inside her mind, and Bella doubted the accusation was spontaneous. He certainly didn’t act surprised when his eyes met Irina’s. His look was dark and foreboding, his jaw tight, the hint of a sneer on his lips.

“You’re accusing me of a murder that did not occur by my hand because you found a lighter?” He asked tightly, and Bella sensed Demetri and Felix shifting, ready to move at the flick of a wrist. 

Aro tilted his head as though curious about something, though none of the hostility left him. 

“Do you know why I was with the Cullens just before you last came? I believe I told you before we had a run-in with your Laurent’s former coven mate. She tried to kill my mate, she needed to be executed. Your lover was never there, I had not seen him.”

“Well if it wasn’t a wolf, and it wasn’t you, then what happened to him?” Irina asked with a touch of hysteria. “He couldn’t have just disappeared. You must know something! Tell me.”

Aro’s hand was around Irina’s neck rather quickly, but he very calmly stayed Felix and Demetri from going to aid him.

“You come here and accuse me of wrongful execution, then demand an answer?” Aro asked her calmly, eyes still dark and threatening.

Irina didn’t move, she didn’t flinch, she took the threat of death like it really meant nothing to her if Aro removed her head right then. Her golden eyes made it rather easy for Bella to imagine it’s what Edward might have looked like if he exposed himself, thinking her dead, and she having never come to try and save him.

“He’s dead,” Bella said suddenly, and everyone’s attention went to her. It was rather stupid, considering she knew who killed him, and Aro knew the same given he’d seen Jacob’s thoughts. Thinking fast, she met Irina’s eye and said, “Alice and Jasper came to check on me. Laurent tried to kill me and they stopped him. It… it didn’t end well.”

“You’re lying,” Irina said firmly. “Laurent wanted to change, he was living like us.”

“His eyes were red.” Bella protested. 

“They couldn’t have been, he wouldn’t have done that! And there is no way Jasper and Alice could have gone to you because they hardly ever left.”

“And now you claim Isabella to be lying.” Aro shook his head. His arm twitched, and Bella prepared herself for the crack of stone, and a head rolling on the floor.

Instead, Irina was tossed aside completely whole.

Aro wiped his hand on his pant leg rather pointedly.

“I’ve no use or patience for those who come to me whining and demanding for things we do not need to give.” He sneered, ignoring the various incredulous looks from those in attendance, Irina included. He returned to his throne, all while saying, “You accuse us of lies when you have nothing to support such claims. You cry wolf without considering the time of day. Truly a waste of precious time even when it’s infinite.” 

The silence in the throne room was deafening. No one seemed to know what to do or think. 

Caius shook his head, looking to Irina as she remained prone on the floor. 

“Perhaps she is so useless without this vampire, she should join him. It seems to be what she wants.” He said, and he turned his attention in Bella’s direction. He glanced over her, signaling for Felix and Demetri who went to Irina, taking hold of her.

Bella could see the uncertainty in her friends’ eyes, the way they glanced at one another, Aro, Caius.

“No,” Irina started to beg, the reality of the situation beginning to sink in. “No, please. I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant-”

“She’s just heartbroken.” Bella declared, rising from her chair. “She lost someone she loves, it’s understandable she would be like this.” She gestured to Irina. “She’s just… hurt, and confused, and she just wants answers. She wants to know what happened to her mate.”

“And you have told her,” Caius replied. “She decided you were lying. We can’t allow such insubordination.”

Bella was about to protest when Aro spoke up.

“A loss like hers can make one uncertain, brother.” Aro said gently, and Caius scowled.

“You’ve gotten soft,” He said with a shake of his head. “I would consider why that is and rectify it.” He turned to the boys. “Destroy her so she won’t come crying back to us again.”

Demetri and Felix glanced at Aro, and after a moment’s hesitation, he gave an ever so slight nod.

Irina didn’t even put up a fight, though Bella couldn’t watch. She’d shut her eyes the moment she saw her mate give his verdict, and didn’t open them again until the tell-tale sound of ignition filled the silence. 

She left the throne room in an instant.

~*~

The boys found her later on the roof. 

Felix and Demetri found her with her hands on her head, chin on her knees, and surrounded by buts of the bricks she’d punched when she first got up there all while she lamented not being able to have a proper cry.

Heidi had managed to find them shortly after, and Bella had heard her sigh in frustration - probably at them - then kick the brick bits away from Bella’s left side. 

“I’m going to sit on the dirty ground so I can be beside you, so you had better start explaining what happened to get you in such a state or I’ll be pissed I dirtied this dress for nothing.”

Bella looked up at Heidi to find her smiling, though she was still at least partly serious about the dress.

She shook her head. “I can’t tell you.” She said. 

“Because Master Aro will find out,” Demetri asked.

Bella shook her head. “He knows, I’m sure. He might not be able to read my thoughts but he was with me in Forks for a few months. He’s interacted with everyone involved, he knows everything I do.”

“So why can’t you tell us?” Felix asked, sitting on the ground directly across from Bella.

Demetri rolled his eyes and kicked away the rubble to her right, sitting down and looking at the others as if they had demanded he’d have done so. She could practically hear the “are you happy” screamed inside his mind.

She looked to each of them, then snorted.

“You don’t have to do this. I know we’re friends, or I hope we are, but there’s decorum, and-”

“I don’t give a damn about decorum.” Heidi protested. “You’re up here, alone, and you’ve never once given a shit about all that title and propriety stuff. Unless master Aro finally comes sauntering up here….”

“I don’t blame him for not coming after me,” Bella assured. 

“If it had been my mate,” Heidi grumbled.

“You don’t have one.” Demetri countered with a tease, and Heidi reached around Bella and smacked him.

“If I  _ had _ and he saw me as upset as you were and did nothing I’d rip his thing off and hide it so he couldn’t reattach it.”

“Bella can get away with a lot, but that?” Felix cringed.

“It’s  _ fine _ ,” Bella repeated. “I’m actually sort of glad we’re giving each other space at the moment. It makes it easier to stomach all this.”

“Bella,” Heidi said encouragingly. “If master Aro knows why you’re upset, then why can’t you tell us? What’s the harm?”

She considered it, trying to figure out what Aro would say when he inevitably found out.

“You can’t say a word to anyone.” She said. “Not even whisper about it to each other.”

They frowned and looked at one another. 

“I’d command it.” She stated. “If I tell you, this is my official Aro’s mate command that it never gets talked about again after this with anyone even each other unless you are so far away from this castle and all of the other coven members that there is no possible way anyone could hear it.”

“Alright,” Felix said slowly. “I think we can manage that.”

Bella looked at Demetri and Heidi, both of them nodding solemnly. 

“Demetri is there anyone near enough to hear?” She asked the tracker, and after a moment of his eyes going unfocused, he shook his head.

She sighed.

“How much do you know about why Edward came to kill himself last year?” She asked, and the non-sequitur had them all confused. When they shook their heads, she explained. “He came here because Alice only saw me jump off a cliff, not anything that came after. She thought I killed myself.” When they continued to stare at her, she shrugged and added. “It was recreational.”

“Alright.” Felix frowned.

“Irina… did see a wolf,” Bella said very quietly. “It just happened to be my friend Jacob.”

“Wait, you had a pet wolf and went jumping from cliffs while still human?” Felix asked, and Demetri reached across and put a hand on Felix’s chest.

Demetri’s eyes were wide. “She’s not saying he was a pet. She’s saying he’s a friend. Which means… the wolf has a human form.”

“He’s not a werewolf.” Bella rushed to assure them as she saw all of them starting to recoil. “He’s something else. Aro said he was something unique. He and his pack  _ do _ hunt vampires. It  _ was _ them that killed Irina’s mate. And I know that because I was there.”

“What do you mean?” Heidi asked, and Bella told them about the meadow and her encounter with Laurent to the best of her memory. 

When she finished that, and none of them had run away, she explained how things were with Jacob, and later how he and the pack banded together with the Cullens and Aro to protect her from Victoria, Riley, and the newborns.

“One of my bracelets are from Jake,” She said, lifting her wrist. “And two members of his pack are the children of the woman my dad is marrying.”

“Bloody hell,” Demetri said, looking at the sky and shaking his head.

“So, master Aro knew all of this,” Felix said with a frown. “And yet… he lied.”

“He lied to Masters Marcus and Caius.” Demetri reminded them. “He lied to the coven, all to protect… what? What was he trying to protect.”

“Bella, you idiot.” Heidi snapped.

“No,” Bella shook her head. “Not me. What was there to protect me from? Irina had started with the wolves, she didn’t come after me until I spoke up.”

“You knew about them,” Heidi said. “And you didn’t mention a thing about them.”

“Master Aro knew about them, too.” Felix pointed out.

“He was protecting Jake, and the pack, and the Cullens. The Cullens have had a truce with them for decades. No vampire feeds in their territory or bites anyone, and they won’t attack. Aro was under the same truce while he was there with them.”

“Well fuck me,” Demetri muttered, running a hand over his face. “Alright, so non-werewolf wolves that still attack our kind live where you used to. And Master Aro knew this, worked with them even and obeyed their law?” He shook his head. “I’m beginning to understand that book you were reading about an alternate reality now.”

“That was a good one.” Felix grinned.

“Given everything,” Heidi said, glancing at Felix in a way that told him to shut up. “I’m still not sure why you were upset.”

“She died because of us.”

“No, she died because she was stupid enough to charge in here and make demands.” Demetri retorted. “She did it before, just after Master Aro came back. Had he been a foul temper, he’d have not allowed her to leave then. You’re not to blame. And I don’t believe master Aro is, either. He and Carlisle are true friends, it’s rather nice to see that actually mean something to him.”

Bella sighed, not feeling entirely better, but reassured in her friends’ belief that they were not at fault.

“I do have to ask,” Felix spoke up, and Heidi looked about ready to throw him over the edge of the building. “Is your… friendship, I guess, the reason behind the book choice last week?”

“No,” Bella laughed, “That was because I wanted to see if it was exactly as awful as I expected it to be.”

“That one actually wasn’t so bad,” Heidi said with a purse of her lips. “Oh, but the vampire one was ridiculous!”

“The movie was far worse.” Bella retorted, and the four of them began to discuss the various things they read over her shoulder.

~AB~

The throne room emptied slowly after the execution of Irina, and Isabella’s flight shortly after. It didn’t go unnoticed by Aro that the first three to leave were the three closest to her. Everyone else left in trickles, and he was sure Bianca was informed by someone that there would be no more visits granted that day.

A part of him wanted to leave as well, to go find Bella, to find out why she had left. A part of him wanted to rip Caius to shreds for his decision and how it affected his mate. For the sake of the triarchy, he did neither, and he wondered with every second how great the cost of his inactions would be.

Hours passed in silence, none of them moving. The natural light above began to dim so only the electric lights provided illumination in the throne room. No one returned to say if they heard or saw anything, and even Bianca’s faint heartbeat disappeared as she ended her day and retreated to wherever she went when her work was done.

The fire that had been Irina had also disappeared, burnt itself out long before the light had dimmed, and Aro’s mind would drift to her family.

She’d done nothing terribly wrong. Demanding, yes. Disrespectful without a doubt. He knew she was angry with him, knew she’d found the lighter, knew what she believed but he hadn’t thought Irina would be stupid enough to say it out loud. He thought her stronger, more stable like her sisters. Apparently, he was wrong and now he was torn between making the courtesy call to his former guard to say one of the Denali sisters was no more, or have them think she simply would never go home.

“What do you think she saw?” Caius asked curiously. “If not a child of the moon, what sort of creature do you believe that nuisance saw so near the Cullens? Was it a threat?”

Aro thought of young Jacob because that was indeed who she had seen from a distance.

“Depends on what it encountered,” Aro replied, wondering briefly if the young alpha would still spare him if he would show up now. Then to answer Caius in a more proper way, Aro said, “they are large wolves native to the area. I encountered them on my trip.” 

Honesty, always best to hide the lies in honesty. He’d just never thought there would be a time in his reign when so many of these honest lies would be directed at his brother. 

“It’s no wonder the Cullens like it there so much, then. One might say they finally have something worthy of hunting.” Caius mused, and Aro didn’t need to see him to know he was smiling.

“Indeed,” Aro agreed for the sake of the tentative peace that settled around them. 

Silence fell about them again, and after a moment, Caius shifted. 

“I grow weary of this room.” He said, leaving the throne room without another word.

Aro closed his eyes a moment, wondering if he could get a feel for where his mate was if she was even still there somewhere.

Marcus moved as well, and Aro had expected him gone by the time he opened his eyes. Instead, he found his brother standing before him, smiling down at him.

He was older than Aro in every conceivable way, but sometimes he could manage to make what was really an age gap of no more than a few decades feel like centuries. Moments like this, when there was a part of Aro that felt vulnerable and unsure, Marcus made him feel like a young vampire staring into the eyes of an ancient instead of an equal. 

“I imagine your mate is having a grand time with our guard.” He said to Aro. “I can see their bonds ever-strengthening.”

“And I’m sure you have something to say on the subject.” Aro replied as he rose from the throne and headed for the table of books, deciding suddenly to sort through them, pile the ones read, and no longer wanted. Something to do to keep him moving after remaining in one position for so long.

“I do,” Marcus said with an undertone of amusement. “I think it’s the best thing we could ask for.”

Aro frowned, then looked at Marcus over his shoulder.

He chuckled. “Don’t seem so surprised, Aro. You know I never thought we should be so segregated.”

He turned back to the books. 

“You never voiced that.” He said to the books rather than Marcus.

“I didn’t see the point.” He retorted, and then he was at Aro’s side. “I would have thought our discussion  _ that _ night had made that rather plain.”

Aro swallowed though he didn’t need to. He had a feeling he knew where the topic of conversation may go.

“Isabella and Didyme would have been inseparable, you know,” Marcus said after a moment.

“Yes, I do believe they would have been.” Aro agreed, a sad sort of smile pulling at his lips. “She’d have adored Bella. And Bella, being what she is, would have been happy around her simply because she liked her.”

“Our present life, I imagine, would have been very different had  _ that _ night not happened.”

At this, Aro frowned and looked to his brother once more. “I’m not sure how you mean? The only thing I imagine may have been rather different would have been if things had not gone the way they had is Athenodora’s freedom.”

“There would be that.” Marcus agreed. “But then, you’d have been less the… perhaps tyrant isn’t the right word, but you may have been more forgiving of minor mistakes.” He sighed. “But then, if that were the case, the Cullen boy would not have come to us to ask us to kill him, knowing it wouldn’t take much to get his wishes. And therefore, Isabella would have had no reason to run to Volterra in an attempt to stop him. You’d have never met her. Or, at least, it would have been a very long time before you had. And by then, who knows how much more complicated it would have been.”

Aro inhaled sharply, the dust and paper and stale blood filling his senses for a moment. “Why do you bring this up?”

“Because today, for the first time since we lost Didyme, I caught a glimpse of the man you had been.”

Aro frowned and turned to face Marcus.

He looked tired, and far more ancient than either Aro or Caius, and more so in that moment than usual. But he also appeared pleased, perhaps even proud.

“You didn’t want to kill Irina. I know that. I could see it. You only gave the command because you were under Caius’ watch. I should have spoken up, I realize this. But Bella had. I had hoped that her voice would have been enough, but it seems our brother still has not embraced her.”

“No, he certainly hasn’t.” Aro agreed.

Marcus nodded. “Still, you tried first to support her. And today I saw you weigh the options. I watched you decide between upsetting him and upsetting her, and I saw you take the harder but likely more peaceful option. I should have been more helpful, and I was not. And for that, I apologize.”

Marcus reached for Aro, and he was almost too slow to realize Marcus made to touch his face.

Aro’s hand shot up and caught Marcus’ sleeve-covered wrist.

“Don’t,” He said with a bitter plea. “I beg you.”

Marcus shook his head sadly. “You must know that I don’t think ill of you.”

“I can live in that delusion so long as I never touch you.” Aro reminded him. 

“Please,” Marcus asked, and Aro shook his head. “Please,” Marcus asked again, and Aro wavered. They stared at one another for a long time, and as they did, Aro’s resolve began to crack. Caius didn’t need to be touched for his growing disrespect for Aro to be known. How could confirming a truth Aro had always known be any worse?

Holding Marcus’ eye, Aro let go of his wrist, then braced himself for the touch.

They were so old that Marcus’ human life was just a shadow, a flicker in the beginning. The life of a nomad, and then finding one another. Didyme.

Aro had been through all the memories leading up to the night of her death, either because he was a part of them, or because before then touch between the three of them wasn’t something they thought much of. And then he got to  _ that  _ night.

He didn’t realize how absolutely feral he had appeared when Marcus appeared in his study, eyes wide and venom coating his teeth and wetting his lips as he spoke. No amount of fine clothing could mask the monster her was as he lashed out at his brother.

_ “You can not leave!  _ We  _ are the Volturi! Us! And she is my sister, you will not take her from me!” _

_ “It’s not what we want,” Marcus placated. “Just time away from all this. She just needs to not be treated like a goddess for a little while.” _

_ “The guard will stop her, stop you! I don’t care if they have to rip you apart to keep you here, but here you will stay! You can reassemble yourselves somewhere secure.” _

_ “Isn’t that a little much, Aro?” _

_ “You are needed! You are vital! You can not leave!” _

_ “It’s only for a short while, a decade, maybe two.” Marcus grabbed Aro’s shoulders and squeezed. “You must know we love you too much to leave you for good.” _

It had been the last time Marcus had said he had any affection for Aro, the last Aro had felt a real sincerity behind those words from anyone. It had been the beginning of a negotiation, how long they would be away for at a time. And then….

That feral animal Aro had been was back, and from Marcus’ watched him remove heads and destroy an innumerable amount of the guard dosed with heavy heartache, utter despair, a desperate wish for death, and the craving to taste fire. 

He felt Marcus’ fear that Aro would be lost, felt the relief of finally breaking through and ceasing the madness, felt the resignation to a long life of misery as he took his throne for the first time afterward.

Aro was wrapped in the depression of a man who had lost his wife, his soul mate, his reason for wanting to be. And in that blanket of bleakness, he watched himself through Marcus’ eyes grow ever colder, and ever more unforgiving. He’d never known how often he and Caius wore the same sadistic smile as the end for some careless immortal or another came. He could feel how Marcus felt removed from him in those moments, and when he would need Corin all the more. How their bond, while strengthened with Chelsea’s aid and never wavered in strength, grew a little lax and distant.

But there were also moments of reprieve, where a little bit of the Aro Marcus had known would come back. The times Aro referred to as his benevolent phases. There was always hope there beneath all the heavy sadness. Hope that this would be the time that Aro would be the man he was. He could watch the opposite happen, of Aro’s bond with Marcus growing taught while the one with Caius drooped.

Centuries of this back and forth, of the bonds never balancing. Of those with the guard being nothing more than a superficial attachment with very few exceptions.

And then he was seeing Marcus watch Jane, Felix, and Demetri lead in the Cullens and Isabella. 

He was drawn to watch her at first because her bond with the Cullens didn’t match what he saw. With Alice, the bond was as strong as ever. With Edward, it was weakened, unequal. But most interesting was the very faint lines connecting Isabella to the Volturi. Not all of them, the shadow only went to Aro, to Demetri and Felix, and surprising to Marcus himself.

Then Aro met Isabella’s eyes for the first time and things had literally snapped into place, and Marcus paid attention.

The bonds between the triarchy were balanced for only one fleeting moment, and then the bond between Aro and Marcus were the strongest they’d been in years. The bond between the Cullen boy and Isabella unraveled, though the one with Alice only wavered slightly. And there was no mistaking what happened between Aro and Isabella, nor how that instant though weak connection affected Marcus.

It was the sign of things to come, good things Marcus had been sure.

And also a sign that he would need to have Aro touch him once more, so he could know the truth that had been buried in Marcus for centuries. A truth Aro had now known. One, and a few others, Aro had not dared focus on, not when this connection had not been established in so very long.

“I had hoped,” Marcus said as he pulled his hand away. “That Bella would end up winning Caius over. I had hoped her spirit, and her modern mind might sway him. But we are approaching a year, and for the first time today, she stood up for one of the vampires we are meant to lead and asked for leniency. She was a leader, and our brother ignored her.

“I had hoped I would never have to give you the knowledge you now hold. Of that night. Of the times more recent. But I feel that after today, and after his words, that perhaps you will need to be prepared. For your sake and Bella’s.”

“Why did you never tell me?” Aro asked, his voice shaking from renewed anger and grief.

“Because I knew if I told you and did not stop you in your never-ending execution of all those involved then our fight to take power from the Romanians would have been wasted. And you, my brother, would never trust a soul again.”

“And you believe I will now?” Aro asked through his teeth, demanding his body to not shake.

“Yes. Because you have love, true love. And, from what I can see, possible connections outside of myself and her.”

Marcus held Aro’s shoulders as he did the night of Didyme’s death, and forced the younger vampire to meet his eyes.

“Please, don’t do anything rash. And do not tell Isabella. There is still hope for her and Caius yet, I’m sure.”

“And if there’s not?” Aro asked.

Marcus had nothing to say to that.

When he did speak, it was to say, “And now, at least, you know that when I have said I never blamed you, that I meant it. And now you can not even deny to yourself that you have always been my true brother.”

Aro smirked and nodded.

“And perhaps now you’ll not think a clap on the shoulder or an attempt at a handclasp to be a drop of the guillotine blade.” Marcus added as he shifted away.

Quite ingenious, those. It’s a shame we could never have developed one for our own kind.” Aro commented, a partial truth in among the dark humor, and Marcus gave a heavy sigh.

“The point was to curb your number of executions, not increase them.” 

Aro chuckled to himself, sensing Marcus leaving the room and him to himself in the meantime.

But at the moment, he didn’t want that, so Aro himself left the throne room and made his way up to the roof, using his instincts to find his mate since she had not wandered so terribly far.

He emerged to the four vampires in the midst of laughter and felt terribly intrusive when they all stopped at his presence.

“Merely wanted to ensure Isabella was alright.” He said as he guards all sobered, straightening as much as they could from their position on the roof floor.

Isabella stood, and looked at the rest of them. “You guys should probably go. You’ve spent enough of your time up here with me.”

“Of course, mistress,” Demetri said with a slight bow of his head as he got to his feet. Bella rolled her eyes but said nothing. “And, if I may, perhaps when we’re all available again we could accompany you on a ride around the country again.”

“Sure.” Bella nodded, touching each of their arms as they stood and gave her a nod. She smiled at all of them, stiff and sad but genuine, and they all smiled back quickly before turning to leave, bowing their heads to Aro as they passed. 

When they were alone, Bella said, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Aro shook his head, crossing the distance to take her hands and clasp them in his. “The apology is mine to make. I tell you over and over to take your power, to claim it, and when you did so today I sided with Caius.”

“But you also lied for me. Again. I can’t keep making you do that.” She protested.

“I also lied for Carlisle, for the Cullens as a whole. I lied for Jacob so his pack as well as his tribe can remain safe.” He countered. “And that shouldn’t mean that I take his side. You pleaded for her life, and I should have heeded the plea.”

She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.”

“ _ Mia amata _ , please.” When she stubbornly stared back, Aro sighed. “I don’t believe this will be a matter in which we can come to an agreement on, so I believe it may be best to let it go.”

Bella hesitated, clearly wanting to continue her point, but then she relented with a nod.

She stepped toward him and did that wondrous thing where she placed her head against his chest, and his grip dropped her hands so he could wrap his arms around her. Holding her, keeping her with him, keeping her far safer than she would be anywhere else when not with the guard.

“Maybe it will be better when I’m gone next month,” She said, and what may have been a cold chill to a human shot down Aro’s spine at the words. “When I’m not here to bother Caius, maybe he’ll loosen up.”

“Perhaps,” Aro said but didn’t agree, though he kept that from his tone. Aro rolled the information he gleaned that night around his in his mind and kissed the crown of her head.

Bella’s arms slipped around his waist, and they stayed still as statues in that configuration for hours.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone, as always, for reading. I'm hoping to have another update in a couple days, but it's a bit wonky looking for writing time.  
> Until next time!
> 
> PS- I changed things to "Chooses not to use archive warnings" because I realized I hadn't changed it from when this was a one shot. It's mostly to cover the fact that there is and will be further vampire level violence in the story.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A massive chapter for you all!

As the sun rose outside their window, Bella was trying very hard to pull herself away from Aro. 

“I have to get ready.” She reminded him as he slid his hands up her arms to lace their fingers together and pressing them back down on the bed beneath her. 

He kissed her jaw. “You’re a vampire. Hardly as though you need a lot of time.”

She smiled, “Vampirism doesn’t allow one a pass through airport security. Nor does it help if I miss my flight.” She said as her eyes fell shut as he groaned against her neck. 

“I don’t understand why you won’t simply take the jet.” 

“I don’t understand why you simply won’t come with me.” She countered as she attempted to roll them so she could get away. But before she could complete the rotation, he had her back on her back and grinned down at her.

“It would appear your newborn strength is waning.” He said as he brushed his nose along hers.

“Which sucks because it might have been fun to arm wrestle Emmett.” She said, earning a delighted giggle from her lover.

“He would have enjoyed that.” Aro agreed, kissing her rather too deeply for the time they had left. But he retreated after, rolling away from her and allowing her to get up and ready. “Out of curiosity, what would your father think if you showed up to his wedding with the man he thought to be Esme’s relative? Especially when it would be near impossible for me to keep my hands and lips to myself?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder while putting on her clothing, enjoying the view of him on the bed for a fleeting second. 

“What’s he going to think about the changes I’ve physically gone through? My voice, my hair, my skin? He’s not Renee, Charlie will notice them and not just assume it’s all… whatever Renee thought.”

“Does he not know about those about to be his stepchildren?” Aro asked with a wrinkled brow.

“No,” Bella chuckled. “Or if he does, he hasn’t said. I’ve no idea what Chief Jacob would have to say about their secret, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. He still has a year before he’ll be completely in charge so Sam still likely calls the shots there.”

Aro hummed as Bella finished dressing. 

A creak, a shuffle, and then his arms were coming around her from behind.

“You have been in this world completely for nearly a year. I know you know how to handle your father. You’ve heard what some vampires who maintain their human connections have done, you know when the line has been crossed. I know, _mia amata_ , that you will handle your father’s suspicions beautifully.” 

Aro kissed her cheek, and Bella reached behind her to put her fingers in his hair, her other hand resting on one of his bare arms.

After a moment, she sighed. “I hate that I already miss you.” She grumbled, turning in his hold, putting her hands on his bare shoulders. 

“It won’t be long. A week, yes? Between the flights and the time spent away for the wedding?” 

“No, not much more than a week. But it still sucks.” She said as she pressed her head to his chest and breathed deep, taking in another heady taste of the evergreen scent of his skin. She kissed his breast bone, then stepped back. “I have to go.” She reiterated.

“So you do.” He agreed reluctantly, dipping down to kiss her lips. “I regret I’ll not be able to go with you to Venice and see you off.”

“It’s better you don’t. Caius is at least a bit less of a… well, of an ass when I’m not around. Or when you’re not with me.”

“I do hope that my inevitable irritability will serve to remind him how much more pleasant you make me to be around.”

Bella laughed, stealing another quick kiss from him. “I doubt it.” She mused before stepping away and picking up her backpack of clothes. Charlie mentioned the dress for the wedding would be there waiting for her, and she was sure Alice would have the perfect pair of shoes to go with it. Bella merely packed her favorite pieces to bring with her, a box of colored contacts, her sunglasses, and the necklace Aro had gifted her on St Marcus day. 

Slinging it over her shoulder, she took a long look at her half-dressed love and found it very, very hard to willingly leave him. But it was a week, a stupid, simple week in the long stretch of eternity. There would be so many other times, she was sure, that they would not spend at least an hour of the day together. The human construct of time shouldn’t even mean anything to her anymore. But damn it all she didn’t want to go without him, even though she had to.

Love was really, really stupid sometimes.

“Bella.” He said after a while. “You’ll be late.”

She sighed in frustration, then darted toward him, kissing him almost like she had when she had still been human and he was leaving Forks, marking the beginning of their first separation. She could feel him smile against her lips.

“Go,” he said before giving her one last peck, and Bella left their rooms before she could delay herself more. 

As she headed down to the parking garage she passed Heidi and one of the male guards she hadn’t really interacted with all that much. He carried on while Heidi stopped a moment.

“I would say have fun, but I still can’t imagine how that would be possible,” Heidi smirked.

“It could be.” Bella shrugged. “I’ll let you know what Alice thought of that sweater you bought me.”

“If she has half the taste you say she does, she’ll love it,” Heidi said, then leaned in and kissed Bella on the cheek. She returned the gesture. “Be good,” Heidi said.

“I should say that to you.”

“Command me.” She teased with a wink, and Bella chuckled before carrying on.

She went to her bike, stroking the front before popping the seat and pulling out the helmet inside. She didn’t need it, of course, but it helped with the problem of exposure. She put that on before shutting the seat, then slung her leg over the saddle and settled in. She took her keys out of her jacket pocket and started the engine, revving it a few times for fun before kicking off and zipping out of the city.

Aside from Australia, most of their coven ventures had been something they could run to. It was the first time Bella was taking a plane since her time on the jet, and this was to be a commercial flight. She didn’t know if Charlie was going to try and surprise her by going to pick her up, so she didn’t really want to show up in Seattle on a private plane. 

The only nerves she had about flying was the part of the long flight where they would try and feed her. She hadn’t paid much attention to what Alice had done on their way to Volterra, and she’d been asleep on the way back. She supposed she could always simply pretend to sleep the whole time, but since she was traveling alone, she didn’t know if the flight attendants would attempt to wake her to ask if she needed anything. 

Her mind went through a bunch of different ideas on the all too quick right to the airport. She found a space in the enclosed garage a few levels down from where Demetri had parked when they arrived to get her. Her helmet would be left there in the seat, the plan being that her flight home would have her landing at night. If it got stolen between now and then, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Bella took a moment to pop in her first set of contacts, then ensured she had her less than legal Italian passport for security purposes.

Getting through had been relatively easy, especially with her being fluent in the language. Off to see her American father remarry. Shouldn’t be more than a week, and she was waved through.

She maneuvered her way around the airport, doing her best to look like she was breathing while not actually doing so. Humans as a whole smelled awful, and that hadn’t gotten any easier to accept as time went on. Yes, there was something underlying about them that made her throat itch if she focused on it too long, and worried she would stumble upon another singer from time to time, but the herds of them were disgusting. Between the scent of food, their chemical-laced fragrances, odor from sweat, it was just about the most unappealing thing ever.

How the Cullens survived high school on repeat was a mystery she would not like to solve.

Making her way to her gate, she decided to stand against the wall instead of taking her seat, waiting for her flight to board. A few of the men in the seats openly stared at her, one or two smiling whenever they thought they caught her eye. She really, really hoped that none of them would attempt to come talk to her because she may very well decide it would be better to drag them to a bathroom and eat them. Just… not in the way they would have probably liked.

She should wear a ring.

But if she forgot to take it off because she couldn’t exactly note the weight, Charlie would question.

But a ring would have been a fantastic idea. 

“There you are,” Demetri greeted her, handing her one of two empty takeaway coffee cups while smiling at her. His eyes were currently a lighter brown than hers, and he was dressed incredibly casual for him. Jeans and a nice sweater, not entirely different from herself, though she had the leather jacket and he had a blazer. He was also carrying a duffle bag over his shoulder. “I got you that drink you like,” He continued, probably noting the men now trying to gauge their relationship. 

“Thanks,” She said, moving the cup to her lips in a very human gesture. After, she shifted toward Demetri, ducked her head toward him as if going to rest her head on his shoulder, and behind the curtain of her hair whispered, “what the fuck are you doing here?”

Demetri chuckled, then turned his head and making them seem like a young couple stealing a moment.

“Did you really think master Aro would allow you to go alone?”

“Yes, I did.” She retorted.

“Well, that’s not the case, mistress.” He said the title teasingly, and she playfully swatted him. “You’re a high ranking member of the coven. You have no idea how furious master Caius was when your mate broke protocol and remained away alone last year. Well, I suppose there were the Cullens, but it’s not as though they were duty-bound to protect him.”

“And what about your husband?” She countered.

“Felix -my _mate_ , thank you- was intensely jealous that he couldn’t come as well.”

Bella tilted her head up to look at him. “Is that why you two went away for a few days? Because Aro wanted you with me?”

“It was,” Demetri replied. “And be thankful I rather like you, because being stuck on a plane for nearly twenty hours with food I can not eat will be terrible for me.”

“I didn’t ask you to come, but thanks, I guess.” She smirked at him, pretending to take another sip of her cup, and watching him do the same. “You remember what I told you about my friend, Jake, right?”

“Yes,” Demetri nodded. 

“So, you know I’m going to have to see him alone first. Aro was in Forks prior to Carlisle’s asking permission, but he stayed away and out of sight while the arrangements were made.”

“I trust that you will be able to handle the matter,” Demetri promised while the flight’s first-class seats were called for boarding. 

Taking the empty cup from Bella, Demetri tossed it and his in the trash before shouldering her backpack for her while still carrying his own.

“First-class as well?” She asked, not surprised in the least.

“Of course. I’m sitting with you.” He smiled, and Bella mistakenly took a breath. She grimaced, and Demetri laughed. “Oh, this will be entertaining.” He said before gesturing for her to move ahead so they could get ready and take their seats.

~*~  
  


“Hey, Dad,” Bella said into her phone, as she and Demetri exited the gangplank, each wearing a pair of sunglasses as the contacts had dissolved and it was rather difficult to put them in with the flight attendants constantly moving about.

“You’re landed?” Charlie asked eagerly.

“Yeah, may be a bit before I make it to the house. By the time I stop for food, get to the Cullens,” She said, and her traveling companion snorted beside her. 

“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” Charlie said. “Just, you know, don’t spend all your time there.” He added not unkindly, a bit of a chuckle on the end. 

“I won’t. And, umm. I brought someone.” She braced him, looking to Demetri and giving him a slight scowl when he snickered.

Charlie went quiet. “You what?”

“It’s a friend from school,” Bella said. “His boyfriend loaned me him for the weekend so I wouldn’t be alone at the wedding.” 

“Oh!” Charlie said with a bit too much relief. “Oh, well, I mean. Cool, that’s… awesome. Yeah. Well, umm, I look forward to meeting him.”

“Great, see you in a few hours.” She said, hanging up and pocketing her phone. 

“And what of your _boyfriend_ , mistress?” Demetri taunted as they made their way through the airport.

“What else was I supposed to call the guy you’ve been with for hundreds of years if you aren’t married?” She asked quietly over her shoulder.

“Felix would come up with a few clever or crude names, I’m sure. But I thought the modern term was partner? Or is it still special friend?”

“Special Friend. Yeah, we could totally go that route.” Bella retorted, leaving the secure area. She barely got away from the exit when Demetri’s hand darted out and caught her arm, halting her and tensing. “What is it?” Bella asked, focusing on the little things she was drowning out and trying to listen past the many heartbeats.

“We’re being stared at rather hard by that human over there, though I get the sense he’s not what he seems,” Demetri said quietly, and Bella turned to where Demetri was subtly pointing.

He was just as she remembered. His hair was a little longer like he either hadn’t gotten it cut or hadn’t decided to grow it back out yet. He was a little taller than her fuzzy memories said he was, and probably a bit bigger. But when she caught his eye even through the sunglasses, Jacob’s smile was just as sunshiny as it had ever been.

It was a fight to keep her movements human as she eagerly went toward the boy who had been her best friend in her human life. Humans were so slow, and it was trying not to simply shove them out of her way, but she managed. And much to her surprise, as she got near, Jacob opened his arms for her.

“Come here you creepy bloodsucker.” He said when she was still a few feet away, but his grin grew and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

They collided with Jacob giving an “oof,” and Bella had to watch her strength, but they held one another as tight as they could. After a few seconds of rocking back and forth, Jacob said, “You smell horrible.”

She laughed, and if they still worked, her tear ducts might have been acting up in the moment. She took a slight breath, and said, “yeah, you do too.” She pulled back and looked at him. “What are you doing out this way?”

Jacob shrugged. “I thought I would come see you, welcome you and Dracula back under the same rules he had last year,” He said, looking past Bella as he dug in his pocket. “But that’s not Dracula.” 

Bella looked over her shoulder to see Demetri at her shoulder, glaring at Jacob through his sunglasses. 

“This is Demetri. He’s…,” She grimaced. “He’s my guard.”

“Your guard? Like bodyguard?” Jacob asked incredulously.

“Mistress Bella is to be kept safe from any threat to her existence,” Demetri said, straightening his back. “I’m assuming, then, that you’re her… interesting friend, Jacob?”

Jacob’s eyes went wide. 

“I told him,” Bella explained. “Irina… she… she came to the Volturi last month.”

“Alice said as much.” Jacob frowned. “She was watching her decisions or something. Said it didn’t end well.”

“It didn’t. But believe me when I say I trust Demetri to not say anything about you guys.”

“I’ve been commanded not to. Twice.” He said, smirking down at Bella. 

“Okay. We are at least fifty-five hundred miles away from Volterra. Here? I’m just Bella. No mistress, no commanding, no-”

“Your word is to be obeyed,” Demetri said with a bow of his head, and Jacob snorted.

Bella shot him a glare.

“Don’t.” She warned him.

“Queen of the damned.” He murmured lifting his hand and showing Bella the keys he brought her. “Dracula’s car. Edward drove it up here a couple days back, said you’d probably want it.”

Bella took the keys and smiled. She moved them around in her hand a moment before she asked Jacob, “Did you ride your bike here?” She asked slyly.

“Yeah,” he said as if it were the only possible way he could have made it from the reservation to Seattle. “I wouldn’t leave that thing anywhere where Paul might try and ride it.”

“That model should only be lovingly cherished.” She agreed, and Jacob perked up, a conversation ready on his tongue.

“Bella,” Demetri interrupted. “Much as I don’t mind this reunion, I have been in a very small space with humans for nearly a day. Not all of us have your blase attitude toward blood.” He said as low as he could, glancing about.

“Right.” She said, handing him the keys Jacob had just handed her. “Anywhere this side of the mountain to the west is fine, northeast or southeast being your safest bet. Head to the Cullens’ when you’re ready.”

“I shouldn’t let you on your own,” Demetri said as he looked at the keys. “Master Aro would have my head.”

“I’ll handle Aro when he finds out. I’m fine with Jacob. Probably more than fine.” She said before shooing Demetri off. “I promise.” She swore before he finally gave in and took off through the airport.

Jacob watched him go with narrow eyes. “Right. I suppose you need to go, too?”

“Nah, I’m fine. I had something a couple days ago. I’ll be good to go for at least another day unless someone smells a bit too good.”

Jacob squirmed. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “So if you’re good, does that mean you’re ready to go? I can give you a ride.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” She said, gesturing to the exit. 

~*~  
  


A nervous sort of excitement gripped Bella as they neared her hometown. The road signs counted down the miles until they were greeted with “the city of Forks welcomes you.” Bella’s nervous excitement ramped up even more as they passed it, and she could hear Jacob give a chuckle in front of her.

“Where we goin’ first? Charlie’s or the Cullens?”

“Cullens,” She said back, glad neither of them needed a helmet so there was no need to try and make herself heard through the plastic. “Demetri probably won’t be all that far behind us.” 

Jacob nodded and made his way toward the Cullens.

The driveway felt so much longer than it was, Bella’s want to just meet them all again in this new life so strong that she nearly jumped off the bike and ran. But Jacob wasn’t going slow, her impatience was just too much. 

Pulling in front of the house, Bella hopped off as Jacob cut the engine, and she looked up at the multilevel house that held some of her most prominent human memories. She took a breath, Jacob’s scent mingling with the damp earth, and vibrant evergreens. Italy was home; it smelled, tasted, and felt like home. But this was a very close second, and if she thought there was any chance she could convince Aro to live here for a bit every couple of centuries, she’d certainly try her hand. 

The front door opening distracted her, and she turned toward it in time prepare to have a squealing Alice collide with her. It happened in seconds, and Bella found herself being moved in a circle with Alice’s exuberance.

“You’re here! You’re here, you finally here!” She said excitedly. “I couldn’t see when you’d get here, and it was driving me crazy. But now I know!” She said, stepping back to glare at an unrepentant Jacob. “You could have called, said you were going to get her. And where’s the car?” She asked him, crossing her arms after gesturing about.

“Demetri took it.” Bella told her, and Alice frowned. 

“I didn’t see Aro deciding to send him along. Though I will say I was quite unhappy when he decided very firmly not to come.”

“You’re watching his decisions?” Bella asked, crossing her arms as well.

“I might be,” Alice said with the tilt of a chin.

“Bella!” Esme’s voice cut through their banter, and Bella was able to uncross her arms in time to embrace Esme. The matriarch of the Cullen clan didn’t dance Bella about, but the embrace was still filled with all the love and excitement she clearly felt at having one of her children back home. “Oh, we’re so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” She said as she stepped back. “The others?”

“Edward went to pick up Bree from school since she’s not allowed to know how to drive yet,” Esme assured, smoothing Bella’s hair. “The rest went hunting. Oh, but look at you. You’re beautiful, just as we knew you would be.” 

“Eyes are freaky, though,” Jacob commented, earning a scowl from both the Cullen women that he seemed very used to getting.

“You behave.” Esme chided. “Bella’s life isn’t like ours here, and that means her eyes are going to be different. You remember what Bree looked like in the beginning.” 

Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes but he was also grinning. “Do you happen to have any more of that-”

“In the refrigerator,” Esme said, and Jacob tore off toward the house.

Bella watched him go and realized there was something she was missing. “Alright,” she pointed after Jacob. “What is going on. Edward said that you guys were staying here for Jake as much as Bree, so….”

“He’s family now,” Esme said with fondness. “He, some of the pack, we’re getting to know each other. Aro pointing out that they weren’t actually werewolves had us all wondering if maybe we _could_ co-exist because of the lifestyle we chose.”

“Alright,” Bella frowned. “But exactly how did that come about. What is it that made you all decide to see if it was possible?”

“We _think_ Jacob was meant to imprint on Bree if she was still alive,” Alice explained looping her arm through Bella’s and leading her to the house. “They feel a sort of connection with each other, but it’s not complete. Like they really can’t help being really good friends, and they really, really like each other. But he’s not her mate, and she’s not his anchor.”

Bella’s heart broke for them.

“Do you think they’ll still find someone?”

Alice shrugged. “I hope so. I mean, Bree will have a long life ahead of her yet, and Jacob could potentially be the same. It’s not something I can really see, it’s not a decision. But I’m sure you know that.” She said with a knowing grin then opened the door to the house. 

Bella hesitated. 

“I should go see my dad.” She realized. “I mean, the wedding is in, like, two days.”

“Contacts first.” Alice insisted, pulling her inside. “And how used to acting human are you?”

“Enough, I think,” Bella said.

“Really, because you haven’t blinked once since you got here.” She smirked. 

Groaning, Bella followed Alice inside.

~*~

Demetri had arrived while Alice and Esme were still giving Bella tips on perfecting her human performance. Jacob had stood by stuffing his face with some sort of leftover and trying really hard not to laugh. When her guard had returned, she promptly took the keys and left, certain she could figure it out on her own and not really wanting to endure more of Jacob’s ribbing. That, and she rather hoped Charlie wouldn’t notice. 

She drove halfway to Charlie’s house before needing to pull over to the side of the road and take a breath. 

Her meeting with Renee and Phil had tainted all the hope of a happy reunion with her dad. And despite what felt most of the time, she _was_ different. Even with the brown contacts in her eyes, she was not the same Bella that had left Forks. Not in any way, really. Renee would never have really noticed. Charlie pinned down her wearing Aro’s jacket rather promptly one early morning when he was barely awake.

The memory made her think of Aro from the morning before. His arms wrapped around her and his scent surrounding her, and his encouraging words in her ear. He seemed far more confident in her ability to handle this than she was, and she almost got out her phone to call him. 

No, she had to give him space. She could go a week without him, talking or otherwise. And she was going to.

Getting herself together, Bella checked for traffic and then pulled back onto the road. She was going to face her dad and Sue like a mature adult. Hell, if she listened to her mate and friends, she was practically a damn queen. She was above cowering in the car.

The cruiser was in the driveway, as was a second vehicle that Bella guessed belonged to her future step-mother. She glanced in the mirror, insuring the contacts were still holding up before taking another deep breath. She then got out of the car and looked up at the house.

It didn’t feel like home. So much had happened after she moved here, but unlike the Cullen house, she felt disconnected from the Swan residence. It wasn’t all that different a feeling than what she could recall from moving to Forks two years ago, only this time there would be no staying. It would likely be the last time she saw it.

The door opened, and her dad came outside and beamed.

“Bells!” He exclaimed, and his enthusiasm was catching.

“Hey, dad.” She greeted. She made sure to go at a perfectly human pace even as Charlie half jogged to catch up to her. Bella opened her arms when it was clear Charlie was going hug her in a moment of rare emotion.

“Geez!” He said as he collided with her. “Bells, you feel hard as rock.”

“I’ve been working out,” She said, the words slipping out without her having thought them through. Given that Charlie couldn’t see her face, she allowed herself the grimace at her own lame excuse.

“You’re cold.” He commented.

“It’s hot and sunny in Italy, of course I’m cold.” She said as she stepped back, taking in the suspicious frown made more comical by his mustache. His heart was steady, though. Whatever he suspected he wasn’t afraid of her, which Bella chalked up to a win.

“You look… different.”

“Well, I am different.” She replied with a shrug. “But, hey, enough about me.” She said, gently swatting her dad and hoping it wasn’t too hard. “You’re getting married! I wondered sometimes if you gave up on the whole institution of it.”

“Well, marriage has value. It’s… well, it’s knowing you always have someone in your corner, you know? It’s a partner you can depend on. Someone you love, someone you respect, and who loves and respects you.”

“Are you trying to sell me on it?” She asked with a grin.

Charlie rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to say that it works, and has value. But, you know… later in life. You don’t want to have to get married because you weren’t careful.”

“Trust me, that’s not something you have to worry about with me,” Bella said as she slowly started to head toward the house, Charlie following beside her. 

“Well, unless you’re suddenly in a convent, there’s always a chance….” He trailed off, squirming.

“No, there _really_ isn’t,” Bella stressed. “I’m….” She sighed. “Just, trust me. It’s not something you have to worry about with me.”

That suspicious look was back, but there was a sadness there, too. Bella could guess what Charlie thought she was trying to say, and at least there was some honesty to that. 

At the front door, he opened it for her and waved her in.

Instincts told Bella to take a breath and she instantly regretted it. She was also very, very glad a vampire couldn’t vomit. 

The house positively _reeked._ If she had a gag reflex it would be extremely active because there was no smell in the world worse than what lingered in her old home. Sue came out of the kitchen, where the aroma of food had wafted out to compound the wet dog stench, and stilled when she spotted Bella.

There was a tension heavy in the atmosphere, great enough that Bella heard Charlie’s heart rate begin to pound nervously, same as when prey did when they started to realize they were being watched. Sue’s heart seemed spiked with fear and apprehension, and Bella was about ready to turn and bolt.

Footsteps pounded their way down the stairs, and an exuberant Seth jumped down the last few steps and launched himself at her.

“Hey, sis!” He exclaimed, taking her into a fierce hug that actually had her stumbling back a bit.

She chuckled as she returned the hug. “Hey, Seth.” She said pulling back to take him in. “You grew. Like, so much since I last saw you.”

“You changed a bit yourself I see.” He teased, and Bella gave a nervous burst of laughter. She heard both Sue and Charlie’s hearts start to calm at the sight of the two of them, though she had to chuckle again when she realized it was for two very different reasons. 

“What can I say, Italy agrees with me.” She shrugged.

“You know, I think it does.” He nodded with a grin.

When Seth stepped back, Sue smiled warmly and apologetically before going up to Bella and giving her a very loose hug as well.

“Welcome back,” She greeted. “I’m glad you could be here for this.”

“Me, too,” Bella said, glancing around and listening to the number of hearts in the house. Only three.

“Leah’s back at the res,” Seth said, likely realizing what Bella was doing. “She’s probably not going to be around much before the wedding.”

“Which reminds me,” Charlie said, shifting behind her before nervously making his way around her to stand next to Sue. “Seth’s giving his mom away, and Leah’s standing up with her. I’d like you to do the same. For me. Be my best gal, or… whatever.”

A vampire standing up for her human father as he married his human fiancee who had shapeshifter children. This was real life, and it had a sudden “ha!” bursting from her. 

“Absolutely,” She said without hesitation. “Just… tell me what I need to wear.”

“I had a dress picked out for you if it’s alright,” Sue said, wringing her hands. “It’s brown, I hope that’s alright.”

“I love brown,” Bella assured. “Just, show me where it is.”

Sue nodded, glancing at Charlie, then led Bella upstairs to her old room.

She could tell that at least Seth had stayed in it on occasion. The sheets had been changed on the bed, and there were some little touches placed about that marked the room as belonging to someone else. 

Sue went to the closet. “Seth hasn’t used this,” She explained. “He mostly just used the dresser since that had been emptied out.”

“I’ll make sure the closet’s cleared for him before I leave.” She said. “Or, if I don’t get a chance to, I already took everything with me that I’d have wanted.”

Sue glanced at her. “I started.” She admitted. “And,” She glanced over her shoulder at the door. Lowering her voice, she said, “I may have discovered a bag you might not have wanted-”

“Yeah, I really… you don’t need to keep those,” Bella assured, thankful for her lack of being able to blush.

Sue nodded, smirking a little before she cleared her throat.

She opened the closet door, revealing the gorgeous brown silk dress hanging on a hook just inside the door. Bella smiled at it, hand reaching out to feel the silk of it beneath her fingers. 

“Would it be awful if I took it back with me?” She asked.

“No,” Sue said, her hair rustling in a way that made Bella think she was shaking her head. “I think I quite like the idea.”

“I can think of someone, in particular, would probably appreciate it,” Bella replied, picturing the look on Aro’s face the next time there was a formal gathering in the Volterra, and this was the dress she wore.

“I hope you know Leah won’t like you being there,” Sue said quietly, low enough Charlie wouldn’t hear but nowhere near the sort of whispers Bella had gotten used to. She turned to face her very nervous looking stepmother to be. “She was very much against your dad inviting you, and she was sure you wouldn’t show up. She is at the reservation now because she knew Jacob intended to meet you at the airport, and she didn’t want to be around.”

“I’m not offended,” Bella assured. “And, if _you_ don’t want me there, I won’t be. I’ll tell dad that something came up and I had to go back.”

Sue took a deep breath, and with shaky hands reached for Bella’s. Bella helped her, moving her limbs as Sue seemed to direct them.

“I know what you are.” She said calmly. “Jacob had told us what you planned to do, and he told us that you were very certain of your decision. And, that the one who… who was going to sire you was certain it was what you were meant for. So, we have reluctantly accepted it. Charlie _doesn’t_ know. What he knows is that my children are not… normal. And that there is something going on that is essentially on a need to know basis. If he asks, we’ll tell him the same thing applies to you.”

Bella smiled, a sigh of relief escaping her even without her having breathed for a while. 

“Now, this friend of yours he said you brought. Actual friend?” Sue questioned softly.

“Yes,” Bella nodded. “I have a… mate. But he’s kinda important in our world. Technically Demetri’s here on protection detail. But he _is_ my friend.”

“Actually gay?” Sue quirked a brow.

“Yes, and very much taken.” Bella nodded.

“Good,” Sue said as she let go of Bella’s hands and tried very discretely to rub them against her jeans. Bella’s lips quirked up a moment, finding it more endearing than offensive. “I’d offer you dinner, but….”

“Yeah, no,” Bella replied. “But I’ll stay with you in the kitchen while you cook if you want. You can tell me more about what’s going to happen, what to expect?” 

Sue nodded. “I’d like that.”

~*~  
  


She hadn’t expected the nights to be so boring. But Bella had also spent all of those times as a vampire in a vast coven where there was always someone around. Mostly she spent those long hours with Aro, which meant she ached for him more than she’d have liked to as she lounged on the chair on the Cullens’ deck, staring up at the stars. 

She heard the sliding door open, then close, and a moment later Edward was in the chair next to hers. 

“Where is everyone?” She asked without looking over at him. “The house is eerily quiet. I can only hear Demetri when he moves.”

“They’re behaving themselves because you’re here,” Edward said. “They’re scattered about, little cottages and huts about the property. But I can still hear them.”

“I don’t want to know,” Bella replied.

“You really don’t,” he agreed, smiling as she chuckled.

“Bree, though?”

“She’s with Jacob.” Edward smiled fondly. “They’ve sort of taken over the meadow for themselves.”

Bella smiled. “They really are sorta cute together in a strange way.”

Edward nodded. “They are easily the best of friends. Not that I think she replaced you, but-”

“She did.” Bella conceded. “In some ways, she absolutely did. But that’s a good thing. I was closer to Jake’s age than Rachel or Rebecca, it made getting along with him easier. But-”

“They’re the same age. Only a couple of months apart.” Edward nodded. “She’ll ride with him on his bike, and they’ll run together when he’s a wolf. He goes with her when she hunts, and then they study together. It’s… weird. But it’s good. It keeps things peaceful now that we don’t have to band together to protect you.”

Bella chuckled. “No, now I can take care of myself.”

Edward hummed in agreement, and Bella didn’t miss the way his gaze darted over her. 

“How’s Italy been?” He asked kindly.

“Interesting.” She replied. “How was England?”

“Damp. And nice for a while. I kept thinking of going back over to see you, spend time with you, but I thought it might be best not to.”

“Probably.” Bella agreed. 

After a beat, Edward asked, “things with Aro are… good?”

“Things with Aro are perfect.” She replied, snickering. “Though I suppose they’re supposed to be that way. Soul mates and all.” Apologetically, she turned to Edward and said. “I miss him.”

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t missed you,” Edward confessed. “But the connection between the pair of you is undeniable.”

Bella smiled sadly, “You’re jealous.” 

“A bit,” Edward said ruefully. “I’ll always wonder now how different things might have been if I had never left.”

Bella cringed. “Knowing what I do now? Kinda glad we ended things.” 

Edward frowned, and moved his mouth as though to ask but the shuffle from the house behind him stopped the words.

“Another one?” Demetri said as he came and sat down on the other side of Bella. 

“Yeah,” Felix sighed. “Master Aro is going to go to make sure it really _was_ an accident, which has pissed master Caius off. But, let’s face it, accident or not someone will have to pay the price.”

“An immortal child?” Edward asked, earning a glare from Demetri who Bella knew for absolute certain had not voiced what the issue was.

“Where is it this time?” Bella asked, and Demetri turned to her.

“It’s on a small island in Japan,” Felix replied from the other end of the phone call. “No big incidents yet, the child is older but it appears to be a grey age.” 

“At least there won’t need to be a lot of you. We should all be back around the same time.” Demetri noted with a hopeful lilt.

“With luck. And, perhaps, our master and mistress will be too preoccupied with each other after their reunion to worry if we happen to take off to Florance again.”

“I didn’t need to hear that,” Edward grumbled.

“Is our master insufferable already?” Demetri asked his love with a smirk Felix wouldn’t see.

A beat of quiet, probably to see who was listening. “Not as bad as he could be. No heads have rolled. But there isn’t a single doubt in my mind that once Bella gets back we’ll not see him for at least a day.”

“You two would still have to get past Caius and Marcus.” Bella pointed out.

“Yeah, but if we _did_ disappear, you wouldn’t rat us out to anyone.” Felix retorted, and Bella could picture his cheeky grin clear as day.

“No, I wouldn’t.” Bella agreed. 

“Be safe without my being there to watch your back,” Demetri said to his mate. 

“You too.” Felix retorted affectionately, and Bella’s heart positively ached. 

When Demetri hung up, she looked at him and said, “I’m sorry you had to be here with me instead of with him.”

“I promise, it’s fine, Bella,” Demetri assured. “It’s something we say to each other when we leave for separate missions. A way of saying ‘I love you’ that the oblivious don’t think twice about.”

It hit her than that in all their months together, she hadn’t actually said the words to Aro. 

He said them all the time, casually, in multiple languages, without a single bit of hesitation. He said it while she was human, said it even as it seemed like she was going to pull away after the revelation of soul mates. Aro had told her he loved her constantly, and clearly without any expectation of hearing the words in return just as he swore would be the case.

And despite feeling it deep within her heart and etched on her soul, Bella hadn’t told him at all. She showed him, she was sure. He had to have known. 

“You should probably hunt before tomorrow and Saturday.” Edward pointed out, getting Bella’s attention. “You don’t know how many humans will be at the wedding. And you’re still technically a newborn.”

“The calmest, most lustless newborn that ever was,” Demetri replied glancing at Edward. “There was exactly one incident-”

“Phil is your blood singer.” Edward cut off Demetri, looking to Bella with concern.

“You know, I’m beginning to understand why Bella left you.” Demetri snapped. “At least when Master Aro reads your mind he doesn’t interrupt and give away your thoughts.”

“Hey, now. Be nice.” Bella lightly scolded.

“Yes, mistress.” Demetri teased, and Bella smacked him without looking over at him. She kept her attention to an aggravated Edward. 

“He is, which is why I can never see him again. But you’re right, I should hunt.” She bit her lip. It was fine sending Demetri off, but all Bella could think of was how this was where she came from. What if she thought she was clear of anyone she knew, only to find herself about to bite Mike Newton?

Mike probably would have liked that, now that she thought about it, and it only turned her off from the idea of true hunting in Washington that much more.

“How hard is it to hunt an animal?” She asked Edward.

“Oh, you’re not serious,” Demetri said. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

Bella looked back at him and shrugged. “I’m curious. It’s not like I’m really into human blood, and I doubt I’m suddenly going to find a deer the best thing ever.”

“It’s really not as satisfying,” Edward admitted. “I can take you if you want. You’re used to human, a predator would be closer to that anything else.”

Bella got up and looked at Demetri who shook his head. 

“I’m not participating in this.” He stated firmly.

“No one said you have to. You gonna be alright letting me go off with Edward?”

“ _I_ would be. Would your mate?” He retorted cheekily.

“Yes,” She said without hesitation, going to the edge of the balcony. She looked over her shoulder at Edward. “Ready?”

He nodded, joining her in a fraction of a second, and then the two leaped over the rail and took off.

~*~

A mountain lion wasn’t any more or less satisfying than a human, which was a bit of a disappointment for Bella.

“Pretty sure something broke when I changed,” Bella said after she finished. “It’s like I’m missing something that makes me actually _want_ it.”

“Does that mean you’re going to take up the diet?” Edward asked, the deer the mountain lion had pinned down before it was attacked by Bella drained at his side.

Bella shrugged, setting the mountain lion aside, and reached into her jacket. “Maybe while I’m here. Not something I’m going to be able to do when I go home. Unless I decide on animals when I hunt instead of unsuspecting motorists.” She withdrew her lighter and flicked it before cluing in that she didn’t have to destroy the body.

“Habit of yours?” Edward asked, glancing at her hand.

“Yeah,” She said, closing the lighter and re-pocketing it. “If there isn’t any other way to get rid of the evidence. Discretion and all.”

“And it really doesn’t bother you? That the human you drank and lit on fire might have a family waiting for them to come home?”

“How do we know the mountain lion didn’t have cubs? Or that deer had a fawn hiding somewhere. You may have just killed Bambie’s mom.” She pointed out. 

“You’re really _that_ detached?” Edward asked as he got to his feet.

“I’m just saying that we don’t know anything about anyone aside from ourselves.” She argued. “Every vampire I’ve witnessed executed for crimes might have had someone out there waiting for them. Hell, the vampire _I_ executed might have had someone waiting for them, wondering what happened to them.” 

Edward stared thoughtfully at her a moment. “I suppose.” He agreed reluctantly. “I guess the difference is how much you interact with them. And you don’t have to hear them, their thoughts.”

“No, there is that.” Bella agreed, glancing at the brightening sky. “Almost morning.” 

“What are you doing today?” He asked.

“Preparing the hall, helping Charlie make sure everything’s ready for tomorrow.” 

“Are they going to need help?” Edward asked as they turned toward the house, moving at a human’s pace. 

“I really don’t know.” She replied. “I don’t even know who is supposed to be around.”

“I would say pretty much all of the pack with only a few exceptions.” Edward mused. “Jacob has made it sorta mandatory that not only do they honor the treaty, but make nice with us, too.”

“Because of Bree?” Bella guessed. 

Edward nodded as he put his hands in his pockets. “Because of Bree. And because of you.” He said, meeting Bella’s eye. “He knew you were going to go through with it, and he wanted to make sure when you came back you wouldn’t have to worry.”

“You mean if.” Bella corrected.

Edward shook his head. “No, _when_. He knew that you couldn’t stay away. Even if it was a few years from now.”

Bella cringed to herself, picturing Jacob anticipating her return even as the Cullens moved on. Despite how Charlie should never know about her. Despite how there really wouldn’t be a reason. It surprised her in that moment to realize that while she loved Jacob and wanted him in her life, she wasn’t ever planning to return to Forks to do so.

It was a thought that settled around her as she returned to the house, and prepared to go about the day.

~*~

The wedding, like preparing the day before, had an underlying tension that the happy couple could at least overlook while they had their moment.

Demetri had insisted on following Bella to the hall and had been a surprising help all while quietly lamenting that he had to move so slowly. Charlie had looked at him with suspicion, and Bella wasn’t entirely sure if it was because a good chunk of the pack watch Demetri’s every move, or because it frequently looked as though he was flirting with Bella despite supposedly being taken.

Jacob had given orders to play nice, of course, but apparently, Sam was only following those orders to keep the peace. But he, Paul, Leah, and a few others were quite distrustful of the Volturi vampire and often shot Bella the most disappointed looks she’d ever received.

Seth, Embry, and Quil were among the most receptive, though they were still leery about Bella’s friend. Having Edward and Emmett about to give a hand ad eased a few worries, the more familiar vampires leading the way with conversation and trying to bridge the gap.

But the wedding itself was both better and worse. 

The Cullens were invited, but only Carlisle and Esme showed up. It had seemed weird for the entire family to join them, given that Charlie only really knew Edward and Alice. So aside from them, there were no other vampires kicking about during the day. Demetri had sat with them during the ceremony while Bella stood with Charlie, and watched the proceedings with a wistful and amused grin. The pack kept their glares and disappointments to themselves, though avoided Bella and the rest at all costs.

But it didn’t matter, not at all, not even a little. Bella stood up with her dad as his best gal (his title, not hers), and couldn’t help but beam the whole way through the vows he shared with Sue and applauding their first kiss as husband and wife. 

It was kept simple since it was a second marriage for them both. There had been no flowery speeches of blended families as all the children were essentially grown. There were tidbits of forever, of as long as they both shall live, and those moments were the only time Bella found her smile waning. The reminder that their forever was not equal to hers stung, and that there was someone out there she never really promised forever to, though it was his without question.

She made it through the reception with faked sips of drinks and pushing food around on her plate until Seth happily took from hers to refill his when no one was watching. Bella socialized with those humans invited that had no clue what she’d become, talking about her time away for school and how much she loved Italy. She did have to excuse herself roughly every hour and a bit to swap out her contacts before the venom dissolved them, and Demetri had made sure to do the same at different times so it wouldn’t look like they were sneaking off together.

She’d been returning from the ladies from one such lens swap when her dad found her.

“There you are,” he said happily. “Sue and Seth are gonna have a son and mother dance, she thought it a good idea for you and I to…” He gestured about the makeshift floor, and Bella grinned.

“Yeah. Of course.” She agreed, moving with him to the center of the floor, a bit away from Seth and Sue. Charlie got into position, and Bella had to tell herself to try and loosen up so he could lead her properly. The song began, and Charlie started to move, and she followed the slight pressure on her skin as a guide.

“Alright,” he said quietly, “I didn’t want to say anything before, because I was a nervous wreck and I didn’t want to think about it too much. But, wedding’s done. Sue and I are heading off in a few hours for our honeymoon, and you’re gonna go back to Italy.”

“Right,” Bella frowned.

“I want to know, first off, where you got a diamond necklace the size of a golf ball.”

Bella glanced down, even though she didn’t need to. Aro’s gift practically screamed at her when she was getting ready, and while the Volturi crest sat against her skin beneath the dress, the pendant would be visible, the aged gold going perfectly with the brown of her dress. She wore no other pieces aside from her bracelets, hadn’t even bothered with her hair. It had made her look more dressed up without effort, and she thought only the Cullens would have known it was real. 

“It’s not as valuable as it looks.” She lied. 

“Right,” Charlie replied, clearly not believing her. “Alright. Then I have another question.” He took a deep breath glancing about, keeping his voice low. “You’re different. I know you, Bells, and I know that something is different. But I also know that Leah and Seth aren’t… are you like them, somehow?”

Bella snickered, shaking her head. “I’m different.” She confessed. “But that’s all I can tell you. And I’m asking you to accept that because I really can’t tell you more.” She met Charlie’s eye, and he pursed his lips.

“That Demetri fella’s different, too.” He stated. Bella nodded. “Need to know.” He grumbled. “Sue said that when I asked about Seth and Leah keeping weird hours and tearing through clothes.”

They were quiet for a bit, moving about in a circle.

“You don’t have a heartbeat.” He said really quietly, almost sounding scared.

“I promise you, dad, I am more alive now than I have ever been.” She assured. 

“You didn’t die or… something.” He asked, and Bella could feel Demetri’s anxious eyes on them.

“I didn’t die.” She could say confidently. “Nothing terrifying or horrifying happened to me. But that’s all I can tell you, alright?”

“Okay,” He said on a shudder, pulling her a little closer to hug her. “You just… you just keep talking to me, okay? Call when you can, take my calls when you clearly forget. Don’t drop off the edge of the world, alright?”

“Promise.” She swore, her chest tightening at the thought that one day it will be the opposite. That sometime in a few decades, Charlie will simply stop reaching out, and she’ll know why. Her eyes stung, and she had to try and pull herself together before the contacts dissolved faster. 

The song ended, and she kissed Charlie on the cheek before leaving him to go to Demetri.

She was surprised to find his arms around her when she was at his side.

“You handled that beautifully.” He assured her, giving her a squeeze as she watched Charlie and Sue start to dance with one another. “Your father is safe, as are you. Not that I really think you would come under the law.”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “I should though.” She said, feeling her phone in the hidden pocket of her dress begin to vibrate. “No one should be above-” She stopped short as she pulled her phone out of her pocket but didn’t look at it. 

Demetri was staring off into nothing, his brow furrowed. A few seconds passed in which Bella’s phone went to voice mail, then started up again. She looked down at the screen, seeing Alice’s name, and the last call from her listed as the one just before the current incoming. 

The tingling of a bad omen like Bella hadn’t felt since the woods by her house the day after her eighteenth birthday slowly began to blanket her.

“Demetri,” She said, turning back to her guard. “Demetri, what’s wrong.”

He blinked, an action she hadn’t realized he didn’t bother with until this moment she noted it for the first time.

“I….” He frowned, then looked at Bella. “I hadn’t realized it had a distinct feeling before.”

“What doesn’t?” She asked.

“The bond I had to the Volturi, to the kings.” He explained, a hand going to his chest and rubbing over his sternum. His fingers caught on his crest, and he looked down at the silver pendant as though he’d never seen it before. “My commitment to the three of them. That drive to serve. I hadn’t noticed it had a feeling before.”

“How do you know it does?” She asked as her phone went to voice mail again.

Demetri met her gaze, and Bella realized he was worried. 

No, not worried. 

Demetri was actually just a little bit afraid.

“I know because I don’t feel it anymore. No loyalty to the coven at all. It’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long.  
> Until next time!


	32. Chapter 32

He did so love Japan this time of year. Aro kept the hood of his cloak over his head, but it wasn’t needed. The rain fell around them, the breaks in it still cloud heavy and blocking the sun. Not only that, but the landscape was positively breathtaking. 

“I regret Bella couldn’t be here with us,” He said mostly to Felix, knowing at least he was friendly with her. Afton and Micheal he was fairly certain felt rather indifferently toward Bella. 

“Understandably, master.” Felix agreed as they moved through the trees of the small island, making their way to the coven accused. 

“And how are she and Demetri?” Aro asked conversationally, glancing about the scenery. “I believe you spoke to them before we left?” 

“Demetri finds Forks….” 

Aro laughed, “Yes, it’s quite, isn’t it?” He mused. “My reasons for staying were vastly different, and made things far easier to tolerate.” 

“He says the Cullens have had a rather interesting pet.” 

It was said in such a way that Aro knew precisely what Felix was saying. 

Stopping, he turned to face his strongest guard, his expression as placid and unassuming as the infliction he’d put in the comment. He met Aro’s eye dead on, though whether in a challenge to deny the statement or to openly question it where others could hear, he didn’t know. Venom began to secrete in Aro’s mouth, his muscles tensing while he maintained an air of calm. 

“Does he?” Aro asked curiously. 

Felix hummed in agreement. 

Slowly, Aro turned back around, running his tongue along the back of his teeth and swallowing the venom. “And what does he think of this pet?” He asked as evenly as possible. 

“Annoying.” Felix countered. “And uncouth.” 

“I suppose they had to replace the one they lost,” Michael said, humored. 

“You’ll watch your tongue when speaking about your mistress,” Felix said before Aro could lash out. 

“Of course,” Micheal replied, the sarcasm heavy in his tone. 

“You will show respect.” Aro snapped over his shoulder. 

Michael said nothing. 

They were nearing the coven. Aro could hear them moving about, the faint sound of their voices with a worried tone carrying over, growing louder as they got closer. 

As much as he regretted Bella wasn’t with him, it was also a bit of a blessing. When she’d gone with him nearly a year ago to Australia there had been the possibility that it wasn’t an immortal child. Their proxy for the region who came to them hadn’t a clue what the two covens were arguing about. But this was a certainty, Aro could see it in the mind of the one who reported it. The question was whether or not the child was mature enough to handle immortal life. 

He wouldn’t want to have her watch the destruction, even though he was sure Bella could handle it. He’d become a bit numbed to the burning of the youngest of vampires, but he could never touch them to do it himself. He hated seeing the innocence, the lack of understanding as to what they did wrong. They did tend to capture the heart if you allowed them to. 

The coven stilled as the Volturi appeared before them. The confusion on their faces was clear, perhaps because they expected someone else, or maybe even more than what there was. 

Afton took no time in making a bonfire, despite Aro not giving the command to do so. But then the child was small. Not a toddler, certainly, but they did not appear the age of Jane and Alec. 

“We’re sorry,” One of the older vampires said in their native tongue. 

“I’m sure you are.” Aro conceded, speaking to them in their own language and continuing to do so. “Who was the creator?” 

One of the younger vampires stepped forward, head bowed. Aro looked them over, seeing they knew what was likely going to happen. 

He put out his hand, and the younger vampire looked at it. He recalled with exceedingly sharp clarity what had happened in Australia the last time someone hesitated, and by the way he shifted Felix did as well. But the young vampire lifted their hand and placed it in Aro’s, then closed their eyes. 

This was a very new vampire. Only a few years old. They had been drinking from the child and was distracted, a human from the group they had hunted was going at the older with a torch. This young one abandoned a meal they had been certain was beyond the point of life and went to help. The change had started without them having fully realized, and once they had, they assumed it was too late to reverse. A simple, honest mistake. And when the change was complete, they took in the child who had been a touch feral but so far obedient. 

Aro let go of the vampire’s hand. “You did well to save your coven mate, and to own up to what you did.” He turned to the guard who watched. In English, he said, “The siring was unintentional. There shall be no punishment given for the act.” 

Michael’s brow momentarily twitched downward, and Afton’s cheek twitched, but that was the only reaction. 

“The child,” Aro said to the coven on trial, kneeling down on one knee as the child was brought forward. He tilted his head, looking the young one over. “Do you remember your first life?” He asked in Japanese. 

Shyly, the child shook their head. 

“Not a thing about it?” He questioned, knowing that there was likely to be something. 

“Why did they take your hand?” They asked. 

“Ah, I’m magic.” He said in an enticing way. “If our skin touches, I can read your mind.” 

The child smiled and held out their own hand. Aro smiled back and took it. 

Fear was the primary thing that came to this very newborn vampire’s mind. Truly, most of their human life had been erased by the change, the pain of it burning it away. But they had been raised to obey, and that obedience was strong within the child even now. Disciplined, very intelligent, and small for their age. They were twelve at the time of their turn, the same age as Alec and Jane. 

“Do you want to live forever?” Aro asked them, feeling it important. “Do you want to be this way for all eternity?” 

The child frowned. “I don’t know.” They confessed. 

Aro nodded. 

Old enough to handle the life, too young to really understand what it meant. Jane and Alec had preparation, they knew what was going to happen to them even if they didn’t have a name for it. They knew that the strange man who came to see them would eventually make them into something spectacular. This young one hadn’t a warning and has thus far barely been taught what to do. 

He rose to his feet still holding the child’s hand. 

“Master?” Afton asked. 

Aro sighed, then extended the hand of the child toward their coven. 

“Master Aro?” Michael asked in confusion. 

“They are the same age as our twins.” He told the guard. “If we execute this young one for existing, we’d need to do the same to our own.” He looked to the leader of the coven as they stepped forward, taking the child into their arms. “Be warned, however, that any sign that there is a lack of maturity than my decision to spare you all will be reversed. 

They nodded and as they moved away from Aro, a strange feeling of disconnect tingled along Aro’s skin. 

He frowned, looking at the coven and seeing none of them paying him any mind, all just relieved that there was going to be no slaughter that day. But it was a power, he knew it was. His instincts told him as much even as it simply felt like he lost someone he liked. A half-grief, mourning for something that he hadn’t realized he had, something he now knew he’d missed. 

Among the guard, a phone rang, and he turned in time to watch a perplexed Felix remove his phone from his pocket. They all seemed to feel something, too, if the looks on their faces were any indication. Though upon closer inspection it didn’t seem like any form of grief with the exception of Afton.

“Santiago?” Felix answered, and Aro was just thankful it wasn’t Demetri or Isabella. 

“It would seem Aro should meet a very unfortunate accident while you are all there,” Santiago replied, and everyone stilled. 

Aro. 

Not Master Aro as he had been for millennia. Simply Aro. 

“Sorry?” Felix repeated. 

“Master Caius is in charge now. Marcus is dead, Chelsea’s gone, too. Might as well end the blighter, then call Demetri and tell him he can leave the Cullens.” 

“Chelsea,” Afton mourned before sharp eyes found Aro’s. 

Aro tilted his head slightly. “Would you really kill me as suggested?” He asked. 

“Yes,” Michael said. “Gladly.” 

Aro found himself fighting off two vampires, calling to the other coven to run. Whatever was going on, there was no need to drag them into this mess. A hand ended up around his neck, and thoughts from Michael flooded in. 

Resentment. Pure, unmitigated resentment. Michael had not been gifted, but he’d been impressive. Chelsea had broken the bonds with his old coven and brought him around to the side of the Volturi, and then they had destroyed the remainder. There wasn’t a mate among the fold, but a lover that he was rather fond of. 

Aro deftly turned in the hold, starting to feel the grinding, choking pressure against his throat just before he managed to grab a hold of the arm and flip Michael over his shoulder. Michael immediately retaliated, kicking Aro’s feet out from under him, causing him to roll for a moment before getting himself in a crouch. 

Michael smiled, all venom covered teeth, and Aro launched himself at him. 

As swift as he could, Aro tossed Michael toward the bonfire, the vampire stopping short of the flame. As soon as Michael landed, someone gave Aro a swift hit in the back, knocking him and rolling him closer to where Michael and the bonfire was. 

Afton. 

Michael was the bigger problem, and Aro would be damned if he died without taking one of the two with him. Michael was getting ready to grab him, and Aro pushed himself off the ground, swinging his feet around so he flipped around to still face Michael when he readied to land. And he timed it just right so his feet would connect with Michael’s chest and send him stumbling into the flame. 

On his feet, Aro turned on his heel, hands out and ready to grab Afton, and found those hands remaining empty at the last moment as Afton was hauled back. 

“Move!” Felix barked, and Aro sidestepped just as Felix shoved Afton into the flame. 

Aro watched as two of his guard burned alive, his mind reeling. 

Marcus, his beloved brother, dead. He hoped there was an afterlife where he could be with their Didyme, where he would be happy with her finally after so long of being without her. Chelsea - Charmion, if she was really gone - was a great loss as well. Not just for the bonds she formed, but because she was such a wonderful being. They hadn’t been as friendly in recent centuries, not since meeting Afton, but she had been a wonderful companion to spend time with when the others were occupied. 

The Volturi, his coven, was likely now in shambles. The delicate threads that kept them loyal aside, there was no bond to keep them from destroying one another if the mood struck. It hadn’t been all that long ago that he observed their fractions and those select few that went between them. How many of those little social butterflies would survive? 

“Isabella,” He whispered as the realization that she was vulnerable, with only Demetri with her and now his loyalty was broken. 

Aro’s eyes snapped to Felix. 

It was absolutely no contest between the two of them. Felix would have him in ash in seconds if he wished it. They were next to the fire, close enough that Aro could feel the warmth of it through his clothes. They were equals in speed, and while Aro was more agile, Felix was far stronger than him. 

“She should be okay,” Felix reassured. “I don’t think Demetri would leave her. And if he does, she’ll have the Cullens.” 

Aro nodded, though he now wondered at the safety of that coven. 

“We should go to them,” Felix said, making Aro frown, eyes snapping back to Felix. When Aro stared, Felix added, “They’re our mates. They may be in the dark about this, and expected to go back to Volterra in a matter of days.” 

“I agree there’s a need for expedience,” Aro replied. “But you said ‘we’.” 

Felix smirked. “I willingly became a member of your coven. And within days of turning, met my mate within it. You forget that you offered us a chance to leave, and we still stayed.” 

“I still had you bound. Now it’s broken.” 

Felix shrugged. “Maybe so. But in all the time you were my master, you didn’t exactly treat me like a slave. And I think our necks would be safer together.” 

“Thank you,” Aro said. “Truly, Felix. Thank you.” 

Aro looked at the fire, the bodies of his former guard nothing now but ash. 

Rage washed over him, encompassing him as the gravity of everything hit him anew. 

“What has he done.” Aro cursed at the fire. “What has that foolish, headstrong -” He cut himself off with a snarl of rage, going to the nearest tree and punching. “Thousands of years! Thousands of years and he decides now to finish what he started!?” 

Aro’s teeth clenched and his eyes were wild as he looked to a confused and concerned Felix. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. 

Huffing, Aro stalked back toward him, past him, stopping and pacing. He worked his jaw, wanting to rip something apart with his teeth. 

“Caius had done something reprehensible to Marcus and I many, many years ago. Before you or Demetri were ever created. I just never knew the truth of it until recently, and then Marcus….” He growled, unable to bear the idea that his brother had asked him to not break up the coven over it. That the sentimental fool had forgiven Caius, and that he believed Aro could, too. 

But he’d have likely not expected his demise. He couldn’t have thought that Caius would seek to overpower them. 

And, Aro supposed, he wouldn’t have thought that either. Not before. 

“He’ll go after the Cullens, won’t he?” Felix wagered, getting Aro’s attention. “Irina mentioned wolves.” 

“I’m fairly sure I placated him in that regard.” Aro tried to assure, but Felix shook his head. 

“Bella told Heidi as well as Demetri and me. Who knows what might be known now. And even still, if he’s dethroned you, he’s going to go after the one other coven she had connections to. He has made it pretty clear he doesn’t like her.” 

“Yes.” Aro huffed, wishing he hadn’t left his mobile device back in Italy. “Can you perhaps call them? My mobile device is on the jet, and I’d rather not risk going back in that direction. He’ll have it watched by now, I’m sure.” 

Felix shook his head, “My phone was destroyed when I went to stop Afton. I tried to talk him down, explain it was the grief, but he wanted you dead anyway.” 

“Because I made Chelsea content to stay.” Aro nodded in understanding. “She didn’t want to leave, as I made her too comfortable. And being her mate, he felt compelled to stay.” 

They were quiet a moment, the crack of the flame the only sound. 

“We’ll need to cross the Pacific.” He told Felix after a moment. 

“Move to Russia first, cross from there.” Felix agreed. “We’ll be able to have a hunt before re-submerging. They would be almost directly across from there, yes?” 

“We can’t go directly to them,” Aro replied. “There’s… territory we can not cross. We’ll have to go further north first.” 

“But isn’t Bella’s friend…?” Felix trailed off as Aro looked at him sternly. 

“The treaty stated no vampire can be on the Quileute tribe land. The sole exception to this was Carlisle when the alpha was injured.” 

“So, Russia first, then where?” Felix asked. 

“Likely Alaska,” Aro said. “And if we wish to get there with little interference we should leave now.” 

~AB~ 

“Demetri,” Heidi’s voice broke over the phone as Bella sped to the Cullens. 

He’d initially tried to call Felix but he had no luck. Aro’s phone rang out, no voice mail to answer. Heidi had called before Demetri could try again. 

“Heidi?” 

“He killed him.” She said in a hushed, pitched voice. “Marcus. Caius killed him… and Chelsea. He-” 

“Oi!” Santiago’s voice was faint in the background, and then there was the crash of her cell against the marble floor, and the line went dead. 

Bella and Demetri were silent for a few seconds, processing. 

“Chelsea.” He said as they pulled into the Cullens’ driveway. “It’s why I don’t feel the connection anymore. She’s dead.” 

“Marcus,” Bella grieved, shaking her head as she pulled up in front of the house. “I just… I don’t understand.” She said as she killed the engine and got out of the car. 

She and Demetri were both inside in a flash, the Cullens gathered around Edward, Alice, and Jasper. 

“I’m sorry,” Alice said as Jasper tried to soothe her, and Edward looked apologetically to Bella. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way.” 

“You saw something.” Bella didn’t have to ask, it was obvious. 

Her hand fell into Demetri’s, and he clung on to it. 

“The future was always sort of foggy,” Alice said with a lift of her shoulder. “I knew you would help bring out the best in Aro, but I didn’t see how that would affect everything else.” 

“Caius killed Marcus.” Demetri supplied, and all the vampires in the room snapped their attention to him. “We had a very brief conversation with Heidi on our way here. We only know that and that he’d killed Chelsea.” 

“One of the very few that were loyal to Aro without a bond,” Carlisle said thoughtfully. 

Alice nodded slowly, sadly. “Caius hasn’t decided much, but he did decide to rid the vampire world of anyone who was friends or loyal to Aro or Marcus. He’ll start with the Volturi, then….” 

“Then come after us.” Edward read his sister’s mind. “And it doesn’t hurt that we’re one of the largest covens aside from them.” 

“But we wouldn’t.” Bella shook her head. 

“You’re not considered Volturi anymore,” Alice said gently. “Neither is Aro. Marcus is gone.” 

“But it was Aro and Marcus who founded the coven! With Aro’s sister, Marcus’ wife.” Bella protested her anger and frustration warring with her grief and worry. 

“Where are Felix and Aro, can you see them?” Demetri asked when Bella felt her throat close up and her eyes ache. 

“When I focus on them, I see them leaving Japan together. They head north and then I lose them. I don’t see them at all after.” 

Bella turned into Demetri, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. But it was wrong, so very wrong. It wasn’t the right arms, the right vampire, and Bella knew he was only getting the same bare minimum of comfort she was. 

They could lose their mates. The idea of living on without Aro was worse than the Cullens leaving, the ache stealing all desire to live from Bella’s soul. He made her throat close up, zapped her of strength when she was filled with boundless amounts. And this was simply the idea, not even the reality of what could be. 

But Marcus endured. He’d actually lost the love of his life, his soul mate, and he endured for his brother. He did what he had to so Aro wouldn’t be alone with Caius, so someone could keep him from falling into the same darkness. 

So that the Volturi would be balanced and properly just. 

Shoving the terrifying possibility of losing her lover before she ever gave voice to her feelings, she turned to Alice with shoulders squared and a head held high. 

“Is there a future we get out of this?” She asked. 

Alice met her gaze. “Except for one, every single possibility leads to the death of us all.” 

Esme made a choking sound, and Bree looked at all of them in wide-eyed terror. 

“That’s it?” Bree asked. “Wait, and we die? How… how is that… why?” 

“Because of what we are,” Edward told her gently. “How we feed, and who we’re friends with.” 

Bree wrapped her arms around herself, her golden eyes shining. 

“How?” Bella asked Alice. “What’s the advantage Caius has?” 

“In every vision, he has Jane and Alec,” Alice informed her with a nervous tone. 

“You must be joking,” Demetri grumbled. “They’re loyal to… of course they are, they share the same sadistic nature, and genuinely enjoy seeing anyone in pain.” 

Bella wrapped an arm around her abdomen, tapped her lip with the other hand. Thinking, trying to sort things out. 

“You’re worried about Aro,” Edward said. 

Bella rolled her eyes, looked at Edward, and held her tongue. 

He was looking at Demetri. 

“You think most of my loyalty to him was made?” He countered indignantly. 

“It wasn’t?” Edward asked in turn. 

Demetri scoffed. “Carlisle here knows about Amun, the one who created me. He can tell you what he’s like. It wasn’t terribly hard to pull me away from him when the offer to join the Volturi was made.” He said, meeting Edward’s eye dead on, almost glaring. 

Edward’s eyes widened. “Aro.” He said in disbelief. 

“Well not with me.” Demetri retorted. “That’s never what it was between us. But when someone sees in your head how often your eyes roam to the same sex and manages to compliment your taste rather than sneer in disgust, you tend to want to choose him. And even if I thought he was merely being nice to lure me in for my abilities, his unapologetic attitude in regards to who he took to bed certainly cleared any doubt.” When Edward continued to stare in a sort of horrified fascination, Demetri scoffed. “I’m not saying Chelsea didn’t have some sway on mine and Felix’s remaining with the Volturi, but the centuries hadn’t exactly been kind to mates like us.” 

“Did you know…?” Emmett asked, and Bella glanced at him to see he was asking her. 

“Yeah, I knew.” She replied, the slightest bit of amusement surfacing through everything else. It faded as soon as she thought of how Aro would give that sort of high pitched laugh at the perplexed expression on Emmett’s face. 

“How long before you lose sight of them?” She asked Alice, teeth worrying her finger. 

Alice shook her head with a light shrug. “A few days? Maybe a week. It’s hard to say.” Bella nodded, bowing her head, her eyes catching on the crest. His crest, really. 

“What if we tried to run?” Esme asked. “It’s not ideal, but if we could find a way-” 

“He’ll have us tracked down.” Alice countered. 

“Could they do that without you?” Edward asked Demetri. 

“They had a tracker before me, he’s still alive as far as I know. And since it was Aro who dismissed him, you can imagine what he would do if Caius were to ask.” Demetri replied bitterly. 

“Aro let him live?” Rosalie asked, disbelief heavy in her tone. 

Demetri shrugged, “Why kill him? He never did wrong, was excellent at what he did. I’m just better.” 

“Who else would be loyal to Caius?” Bella asked Demetri. “Who would be in his corner if we were to face off against him?” 

“You can’t be serious?” Rosalie asked. 

“It’s better than doing nothing.” Bella snapped at her before looking to Demetri, dropping her arms to her side. “Who?” 

He considered it. 

“No,” Edward scoffed, eyes narrowing at something Demetri thought. 

“You are incredibly rude.” Demetri snapped back. 

Bella rolled her eyes, seeing that the pair were going to start going at each other and they would lose time. She stretched her shield and wrapped it around Demetri. 

“I can’t help it if-” Edward started to say before trailing off. “I can’t hear you anymore.” He said, glancing around. 

“Really? I wonder how I got so blessedly exempt from your invasiveness.” Demetri retorted. 

“Me, I did it,” Bella said. “Now, tell me: who would be loyal to Caius?” 

“At least half of the coven,” Demetri replied. “And I imagine the half that didn’t like him all that much was tortured and burned. There are those that were spread out around the world that would be more than happy to come to his side. They didn’t have the falsified bonds, but they would have known Caius from at least as far back as the werewolf hunts. He made a few loyal followers then.” 

“W-werewolf hunts?” Bree stuttered. “Yeah, he sounds like a great guy.” 

“He’s fantastic,” Demetri replied sarcastically while still holding Bella’s eye. “It wouldn’t make a massive army, but certainly large enough that a coven even of this side would be destroyed in a blink.” 

“Fantastic,” Emmett grumbled. 

“How exactly are you blocking Demetri?” Edward asked curiously. 

“I’m shielding him,” Bella replied. “Aro and I discovered my ability by accident.” 

“Oh did you?” Emmett asked, trying for levity in teasing. 

Bella shot him a barely-there glare, “I saved him not long after I was changed.” 

“Australia,” Demetri said in understanding. “I knew he moved before the rest of us, but I genuinely thought he just fought off the paralysis.” 

Bella nodded, then turned to Alice. “You said almost every vision but one has us failing. What’s different about the one we don’t?” 

A glimmer lit in Alice’s eyes. “I can’t see how it ends. I can’t see any of it after the initial confrontation.” 

Bella grinned. “The wolves. You can’t see past them, can you?” 

Alice grinned ruefully and shook her head. “I can maybe see flashes. But there’s never anything solid. Jacob’s been around for most of the last year, and I haven’t been able to see around him.” 

“Great for playing games,” Jasper commented with a smirk. 

“So the wolves,” Bella said to herself. “And maybe the Denalis, but … Irina.” 

“It was Caius’ decision.” Demetri without an ounce of doubt. “Aro gave the final word, but he didn’t want it.” 

“Caius would have thought that weak,” Edward said thoughtfully. “I’ve seen in his mind, he hates weakness. He thought of me that way for not wanting to live in a world without Bella.” 

“Well,” Demetri tilted his head from side to side. “We all sort of thought that.” 

Edward gave a self-deprecating grin for a quick moment before he was serious once more. “But it was more than that. He thought, briefly, that Aro was weak for not keeping a tighter reign on Bella. It was a quick thought after her behavior in the throne room when I was there. But I didn’t pay it any attention at the time.” 

“Are you a loose cannon, Bella?” Emmett asked with a smirk. 

“She’s a queen, and she did as any queen would: what she wanted,” Demetri replied. 

“Carlisle,” Bella said, ignoring Demetri’s commentary, “would the Denalis stand with us, with me, despite what happened to Irina?” 

Carlisle blinked, jaw dropped, and Bella vaguely remembered him looking very much the same way after she and Aro had said their goodbyes to each other near the treaty lines a year ago. 

“Yes,” he said after a moment. “I think they will.” 

“Is there anyone else?” Bella asked, hope and excitement bubbling inside her. “Anyone who would want to make sure Caius didn’t stay in power?” 

“Charlotte and Peter.” Jasper offered, shrugging when Bella turned to him. “Ol’ friends of mine from my days with Maria. They wouldn’t care much about the politics, keep to themselves, mostly. But if I call, they’ll come, no questions asked.” 

“I have some friends in Ireland,” Carlisle pondered for a moment. “I might be able to get Amun to come, but as Demetri can likely attest, he isn’t exactly fond of any of the Volturi.” He said, pointedly looking at Bella’s crest. 

“You could still try, maybe,” Bella said as an idea came to her. “But if you go to Ireland… I know it’s dangerous, but there’s a vampire that lingers on the border between Italy and Switzerland named Julie.” 

“The mind reader?” Demetri asked, and Bella shook her head. 

“It’s just what Aro said. She wasn’t a mind reader, she could take on the gifts of others. He let her go as a promise to me, to treat other gifteds like he would have me.” Bella explained to her friend before looking at Carlisle. “If there was a way we could ask.” 

“Renata,” Demetri said thoughtfully. “But… there’s a chance she wouldn’t come. She didn’t precisely like Caius, but I don’t think she’d be brave enough to face him.” 

“I also had a friend on the East Coast who may be willing to come help us. An old soldier by the name of Garrett.” 

Bella smirked but said nothing. 

“So if we’re lucky, we have might have about thirty on our side,” Jasper noted, probably having kept a running tally of people in his mind. 

“It’s a start,” Bella said firmly. “Aro lied to him about the wolves, so he won’t expect them. And the numbers won’t be much, but it’s better than nothing.” She grabbed at her crest, holding it firm. She looked at the room. “I know none of you are going to do this for the same reasons I am, I get it. But I can’t let Caius take the name for his own. He’s going to destroy Aro’s-” She cut herself off, shaking her head. “Legacy. His legacy. Fuck, I’m actually starting to understand how Victoria felt, and I don’t even know if….” 

The room went quiet. 

“Mistress,” Demetri said, startling Bella into whipping her head up to meet his eye. “I could try to find them. I make no promises, but if there’s a chance, I can try.” 

“I can go with you.” She offered, taking his hands and squeezing. 

Demetri shook his head. 

“Much as you don’t want to accept it, if the worst has happened or will,” He took his hands out of her hold, and with one touched her crest. “I think we both know what Aro would want.” 

Bella nodded. “Do it, then. Bring our guys back to us.” She said softly. 

Demetri nodded once, solemnly. 

“And Demetri? If you can’t bring them home, if it is the worst, come back safe.” 

He gave her a sad smile, then darted over, kissing her on the forehead. “Be safe yourself.” He said to her before turning and leaving the Cullen house. She felt him leave the blanket of her shield and hated that it meant he was unprotected. But much like Athenodora not long ago, she accepted she couldn’t protect him and do everything else she would need to. 

“We should make our plans,” Carlisle said thoughtfully. “Bree shouldn’t miss a lot of school, though. It would seem odd, especially given that she started a little later.” 

“We can go to Ireland.” Emmett offered, glancing at Rosalie who nodded. “And maybe go to see this Julie Bella mentioned.” 

“She’s been in Aro’s head, she’ll recognize you.” Bella offered with a nod. 

“I know where Peter and Charlotte tend to roam,” Jasper said. “Could go down, bring’em up. Won’t be more than a day or two, I’m sure.” 

“No one goes alone,” Carlisle said firmly as the roar of a bike engine grew closer. 

Bree perked up. “Jake,” She said before dashing for the door to greet him. 

“I’ll go with Jazz.” Alice assured, “and if anything changes, I’ll be able to call one of you, tell you what’s happened.” 

Bella glanced out the front windows and took in the sight of Jacob with his arms wrapped around Bree, his face a mix of horror and confusion. He met her eyes through the window, and Bella could only offer him the barest quirk of her lips. He’d have left the wedding to come here, and she wouldn’t have been surprised that he only left because of how quickly she and Demetri had. She couldn’t imagine how they must have looked, the fear that must have been clear to anyone paying attention. 

“Bella can’t go to the Egyptian cover if they have any animosity with Volturi,” Edward said in such a way that it sounded like he was replying to something. 

“I know,” Carlisle said with a sigh. 

Outside Bree stepped back from Jacob, and the two walked toward the house with their arms around one another. 

Bella turned her attention to Carlisle. “You were hoping I’d go?” She asked him. 

He gave a half-smile, “It had been a thought. You haven’t been with Aro for long, word may not have gotten to Amun about who you are. And if it hasn’t, there’s only one thing that would tell him you were ever a part of the Volturi.” 

Carlisle’s eyes darted down to Bella’s crest again. 

“I’m not taking it off.” She said firmly, meeting Carlisle’s gaze. “Aro founded the Volturi. Caius doesn’t get to take the name because he killed off their co-leader. Aro-” She stopped, her throat closing up and her chest feeling as though it had been smashed apart. Putting a fist over her dead heart, she steeled herself. “If Aro’s… gone… or will be… then I’m going to fight to make sure the name of his coven doesn’t fall in the hands of some asshole on a power trip that keeps his wife in a tower or tosses innocent vampires into a fire because he thought their problems meaningless. If I’m willing to do that, I’m certainly not giving up one of the last pieces of my mate I have to placate a guy who my friend gladly left behind.” She shook her head. “I’ll go find Garrett, we’ve met.” 

“You have?” Carlisle asked. “I hope he wasn’t causing trouble.” 

“We had an interesting encounter.” She replied diplomatically. 

“I’ll go with you,” Edward said. “Like Carlisle said, we shouldn’t go anywhere alone.” 

“Where are you going?” Jacob asked as he and Bree came inside. 

“Back down Florida way, head up the coast from there,” Bella told him. “Trying to find a friend.” 

“I’ll go, too,” Jacob said. “Bree told me what was happening.” 

“Which is why you should stay, just in case Caius comes here while we’re gone.” Bella retorted. 

Jacob shook his head. “Sam and the pack can handle things without me for a while.” 

“I want to go with you, too,” Bree said, looking to Jacob. 

“Sweetie, it’s probably better that you stay.” Esme tried to placate, but Bree shook her head. 

“I can’t stay here while everyone else does something. It’s only a couple days.” She protested. 

“Why don’t you take her to Egypt, test the waters with Amun,” Bella suggested to Carlisle, glancing at Esme. “A few days could easily be written off as you two going to court out of state. Bree’s a runaway, maybe… something came up.” She suggested, not sure how plausible it could be.” 

“Egypt?” Bree’s eyes went wide. “That… could be cool.” 

“And better than going with Bella, Edward, and Jacob.” Carlisle agreed reluctantly. “As Bella said, she won’t give up her link to the Volturi, it might be best if you’re not traveling with someone who may be wearing a target around her neck.” 

“I won’t put any of you in any danger,” Bella agreed, glancing about the room and meeting everyone’s eye. “I’m not a great fighter, and I’m not as practiced with my shield as I’d like to be. But I won’t hide my loyalties, not for anything.” 

“Then it’s a good thing I’ll be there with you,” Jacob said confidently. “I always did say it was my job to protect you from vampires.” 

“I am a vampire.” She replied sardonically. “You’re going to protect me from myself?” 

“If I have to.” He agreed. “You always were a magnet for trouble, I’m betting that didn’t change.” 

She snickered quietly, turning away. 

Carlisle and Esme were smiling at her, full of affection and pride. 

“Garrett tends to like being new New England, but given you met him, you likely know he has been known to venture down further,” Carlisle said. 

“I do.” Bella nodded, a ghost of a smile still on her lips. 

“So it’s settled,” Carlisle said. “We should start making our arrangements. We should move as quick as possible, it’s likely we’ll be watched.” 

Emmett and Rosalie, as well as Esme and Carlisle, took off to start to arrange flights. 

After they left the room, Alice met Bella’s eye and beamed. 

“What?” Bella asked. 

Alice was across the room in an instant, arms around Bella’s neck, hugging her tight. 

“The one possibility,” Alice replied in a happy and pride-filled tone that was peppered with sadness. “It’s the only possibility now.” 

“You’re sure?” Bella asked as she wrapped her arms around Alice. 

“Positive,” Alice said as she stepped back, her eyes glittering. “Someone decided something very crucial. Now we at least we have some hope.” She darted away, taking Jasper’s hand and disappearing out the balcony door. 

Bella stood still, completely and totally, as she realized exactly what Alice was alluding to. 

“ _You keep saying this, and yet you consistently find ways of taking up the mantel. I’m not sure you can resist it altogether,_ mia regina.” 

Aro had wanted her to take her place, and she kept resisting. She still didn’t want to, not really. But he wasn’t around, he may be gone, and she would be damned if the sadistic bastard who was supposed to love Aro like a brother took what he built and destroy it. 

“Jacob and I will change.” She told Edward and Jacob. “And then we should start getting ready to go. The sooner we can sort this out, the better.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter after this one won't be as long as the last two have been, but I think it works for the pacing and the set up.  
> Also, I promise we will eventually know everything that happened in Volterra. It just won't come to light for a bit.  
> Until next time!


	33. Chapter 33

The sun was just setting as they headed out. 

Bella had called Charlie’s cell, leaving a voice mail that there was an emergency, and she was sorry that she had to step out early. Since Jacob had to go back home to change, it also allowed Bella a chance to try and call Aro and Felix again. in both cases it rang out right away. 

When Jacob was back, the three of them piled into Edward’s car and left the Cullen residence. 

They could have run, but because Jacob still needed sleep they drove. 

“I saw Garrett in Jacksonville,” Bella told Edward as they pulled onto the interstate. “It’s not likely that that’s where he’d be now, obviously.” 

“When?” Jacob asked from the backseat, leaning in between them. “I didn’t sense any vamps around while I was there.”

“It was after you left, a few days before I headed to Italy,” Bella replied. “He stumbled upon me, thought my various ties to the vampire world was intriguing.”

“I met him once in passing a long time ago,” Edward remarked. “He’s nice enough if I remember right. Very much a patriot. Not entirely sure why Carlisle would think he’d be willing to help what amounts to the de-throned king and queen of the vampire world.”

Bella swallowed. “For all we know he’s just helping me.” 

“Caius… did he really dislike you that much?” Edward asked, looking at her in concern. 

“He barely talked to me unless I was doing something he deemed out of line.” She replied with a shrug of a shoulder. “If I’m honest, I only really talked to Marcus, a few of the guard. Not even all of them, just Demetri, Felix, and Heidi. Everyone else just wouldn’t bother with me.” 

“So tell me more about this more evil Dracula,” Jacob asked. “He sounds kinda like a dick.”

“He’s always had a reputation of being the most sadistic of the three,” Edward started. “And he once was rumored to have hunted all the werewolves to extinction.” 

“He keeps his wife locked in a tower,” Bella told him. “And he’s pushed Aro to do the same with me. To the point that I’m pretty sure he tried to get one of the guard to lure me there.”

“What the hell keeps her there?” Jacob asked. “Is the knob laced with garlic or something?”

“You know that’s a myth, right?” Edward commented, over his shoulder, eyes still on the road. “Esme makes you things with it all the time, and she’s never once burned or anything.”

“A gifted vampire named Corin,” Bella told them before they could get into a tailspin. Edward looked at her in surprise, clearly having never heard of her before. “She apparently can give addictive levels of contentment. She’s been Athenodora’s only company since Didyme died.”

“And who is that?” Jacob asked, Edward glancing between him and Bella.

“Aro’s sister,” Bella replied, Edward’s eyes widening. “Marcus’ mate.”

“So… I had it wrong.” Edward frowned. “I heard rumors that Aro had killed someone, one of the queens. I thought it was _his_ wife.”

Bella shook her head. “It was a misunderstanding. Something he said got taken to the extreme. He never meant to kill her.” 

“So… Aro’s sister married Marcus.” Jacob said thoughtfully. “How did this Caius guy come into play?”

“They joined up to take down the original rulers of the vampires, the Romanians,” Bella replied, turning to look at Jacob with a smirk. “Which is why Aro’s always been a bit unsure of you calling him Dracula.”

“The Romanians might try and swoop in, take out Caius now. If they’ve heard of the collapse of the Volturi, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to rise up.” Edward commented uneasily.

“I take it they aren’t much better?” Jacob asked.

“Worse,” Bella and Edward said as one, glancing at each other and grinning.

“Alright,” Jacob conceded. “And what happens if Caius is taken out, and then the Romanians are taken care of, what happens? Do _you_ take up the whole ruling thing?” He looked to Bella, and she looked out the window.

“Aro will.” She said, not wanting to focus on the fact that Jacob essentially went on the assumption that Aro wasn’t going to be around for the aftermath. It hurt too much. It made her soul want to cry and scream and rage and Bella’s eyes stung.

Edward must have known because he swiftly changed the subject. “We’ll look for Garrett in Maine first. Move our way further south as needed. We’ll stop somewhere cloudy or rainy before nightfall.” 

“How do we even look for him?” Jacob asked. “If he just wanders about, how do we even track him down?”

“We can ask other vampires in the area,” Edward replied. 

“Which means we should be on foot by when?” Bella asked.

“New York?” Edward suggested. “That will be in a couple of days with stops, and maybe not exactly following the speed limits.” 

Bella nodded, and Jacob didn’t disagree. 

~AB~

“I loathe this,” Aro grumbled as he looked out at the forest beyond the cave walls. “Hiding.” 

“So do I.” Felix agreed, standing opposite of Aro and glaring at the sunlight that shone merely through the trees. They had managed to make it across the ocean, island hopping to Russia during the early morning hours, only to find themselves stranded as the sun began to rise rather brightly. It was hard to determine if they were in a place with a dense population, or any humans at all, and made do with a spot in the mountains that would shelter them in case one passed by.

They would need to hunt soon, though. The run across the land and water after not having fed before the initial trip to Japan would start wearing on them, and possibly make them reckless.

“Can you feel him?” Aro asked quietly.

It was a question he hadn’t wanted to voice but had been on the tip of his tongue for hours now. He could still sense that Isabella was out there somewhere. Or, at least, there wasn’t a gaping hole in his chest. 

“I don’t feel like he’s gone,” Felix replied. “Bella, can you…?”

“I don’t feel she’s gone, either. But she’s too far away to get a proper sense of.” Aro replied, glancing out of the cave and at the sky, hoping for a reprieve. 

There was none. 

“Where are we going to cross over to Alaska, but I assume you have a plan for when we get there?” Felix asked. 

“We can go to Eleazar, hope that perhaps he’s feeling forgiving after what happened with Irina.” Aro reasoned. “Though it may be that you’ll have better luck there than I. I may try and seek out the Cullen’s Alaskan residence, hope that maybe there’s something there that can help me get in contact with Isabella. At least warn her and Demetri as to what’s happening.”

“They have to know by now.” Felix reasoned. “It’s been hours.”

Aro met Felix’s eyes and shook his head with the barest movement. 

“You don’t think…?”

“How many true friends did you have within the coven?” Aro asked. “I know you and Demetri were very fond of Bella, and you spent much of your time with Heidi. But who else among them would you think would reach out to Demetri, and not simply wait for them to return home in a day or two?”

Felix seemed to think about this, looking out the cave with disappointment. 

“Heidi.” He reasoned. “Before I may have said Chelsea and Afton, but he turned on me quite swiftly.”

“You defended me.” Aro reminded him. “Had you let them rip me apart, they would have left you alone.”

“But probably not Bella.” Felix countered. “And what has she ever done to deserve their resentment? Nothing.” He shook his head. “I wanna believe Heidi made it out or was already out when it happened. Maybe….”

He trailed off, and they fell silent again. 

Time went on, and as it did cloud began to cover the sun. As soon as it was blocked, the two vampires darted out at a run.

Aro and Felix stuck to mountain terrain and were both rather grateful when they came across a pair of climbers that at least satiated them before they moved into brighter territory once more.

“We could just eat any of the humans that spot us,” Felix suggested when they had to once again shift into the shadows offered by the rock. 

“That’s true.” Aro reasoned. “But I’d rather not risk it. I’m not as familiar with this territory as I’d like to be. And too many humans killed the same way would look conspicuous. I may not be in a position to enforce the laws, but it would draw attention to the direction we went should it be reported. We’ve no idea if those climbers were a happy fluke or the norm.”

“We’re going to need help,” Felix pointed out, getting Aro’s attention off the sky and back on him. “We’re not just going to let Caius take over, are we?”

“No,” Aro swore. “No, we most certainly won’t. Only I can’t imagine who would stand at my side to do so.”

“The Cullens?” Felix offered.

Aro sighed. “Perhaps. But when you consider I crushed the heart of Carlisle’s first and likely favorite child, stole Isabella from them when it was all but given that she would be one of theirs… I’m not sure. That would be the problem with anyone we asked, I haven’t always been kind.”

After a moment, Felix said, “You know you weren’t a bad leader.” When Aro scoffed, he continued. “I’m not under any sway, so it’s not like I’m made to say it.”

“I made you kill hundreds of vampires over the centuries.” Aro reminded him, all the faces flashing through his mind, reminding him how many covens he’d potentially angered, and that was only counting those that walked away from the Volturi intact. How many had he destroyed for a single vampire from time to time? How many friends would hold a grudge in honor of the fallen?

“Yes, you have.” Felix acknowledged. “And I’m aware that not all of them deserved it. But for the most part, they had. So many of them had done something incredibly stupid.”

“You would guess.” Aro pointed out. “I’m the only one who actually knows.”

They were quiet again for a time.

“Did you enjoy it?” Felix asked. “Having them killed, killing them yourself? All the vampires you’ve executed or had executed over all the thousands of years you ruled over our kind, did you enjoy it?”

“I never enjoy wasting the potential of forever,” Aro replied without looking at his former guard. “There’s enough of our kind that petrifies, that lose their lives over foolish squabbles. The only executions I ever truly enjoyed were the ones that followed the death of Didyme. And I may have gotten a bit of satisfaction of ridding the world of those who opposed me.” 

Felix hummed knowingly. 

“No one’s perfect.” He said after some time. “And being part of the coven, I know what it’s like to be hated on sight. But I do know that the times you are the one leading the judgment party, people aren’t instantly afraid. Caius, there was always a fight.”

Aro frowned. “I don’t believe I ever made the distinction.”

“There was _always_ a fight because if he showed up everyone was dead. It didn’t matter what anyone was accused of.”

Aro looked at Felix thoughtful. “I don’t imagine he ever gave a reason?”

“Why would he? What was the point? We weren’t going to oppose him. And if we hesitated-”

“Jane,” Aro nodded. “Yes, I do recall seeing those moments from her mind.” 

“We may not find many who will stand with you _for_ you. But against Caius? That’s more likely.”

Aro considered this as the pair fell silent while waiting for another break in the sun. 

There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that he still wanted to rule. Vampire kind had lived mostly peacefully and completely hidden for thousands of years with he and his coven brothers in power. The only real uprisings they faced were against the Romanians, as well as the Egyptian coven ages ago, and both were easily won. 

Should there be an assembly of vampires who fought against Caius, it wouldn’t automatically mean he would be placed back at the helm. This wouldn’t be like the original uprising that put him and the others in power. He may actually have to prove he was worthy of the throne. A tedious task to be certain and thought that brought a curl to his lip. But had he not been more benevolent in recent years? Vampires did not forget, of course, but perhaps that could work to his advantage in the end. Proof that he wasn’t always a tyrant. 

It was something he thought of as they bided their time that didn’t have him worry about the one vampire whose opinion mattered most.

~AB~

It had been a couple of hours since Jacob had fallen asleep. They’d stopped somewhere in Wyoming so he could deal with his mortal issues, and not long after getting back on the interstate he laid across the cramped back seat and closed his eyes. It was shortly after that soft snores filled the otherwise silent car.

Bella could sit still for hours and had done it before. But she couldn’t do so while her mind kept trying to figure out what instincts of hers she could tap into that might tell her if Aro was still alive. Absently, she began to fiddle with her crest, wishing she could draw the strength from it she did while she was still human.

She knew Edward was watching her, could feel his golden eyes on her more than they were likely on the road. Not that it mattered, it hadn’t occurred to her once to ask him to pay attention. 

“I have a question. I’m not sure you would want to answer it.” He began.

She dropped her crest and looked at him. “You won’t know until you ask.” She retorted with a half-smirk that didn’t hold any weight behind it.

“I’m not sure _I_ want you to answer it.” He told her honestly, his own grin about as honest as hers. 

“Again, same thing.” She countered.

Edward shifted in his seat.

“How did you know? That Aro was the one? You always said you knew you were perfectly safe with him. And he always said the moment you changed I’d know you weren't mine. So how did you know?” 

Bella moved her head from side to side in barely there tilts, thinking back to what it was like.

“As a human, I don’t think I ever did. I can’t really say what it was like, just that I wanted to know him, and that I could trust him.”

“Love came later?” Edward guessed.

“Yeah, for both of us. Well, I say that but Aro said once that he loved me without ever having to try. But for him, the distinction was that he came to like me.” She smiled honestly. “It was sort of like we were meeting in the middle when it finally clicked. When we met, I looked in his eyes, saw his soul, and knew I could trust him. Knew I would like him, and after getting to know him I did. And as I got to know him, I also fell for him. He was sorta the opposite, he saw my soul and knew he was bound to love me. But he got to know me and found he could also like me. He became my best friend.”

She looked at Edward and her heart broke at the raw pain in his eyes, and the way they shone in the street lights as they passed.

“I’m sorry,” She said, biting her lip.

“Don’t be. I asked. I even said I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.” He reasoned. “I’m just glad it wasn’t true love at first sight. It makes me think that maybe I didn’t waste all that time trying to win you back. But watching Bree and Jacob? I think we were like that once. Before James. Before your mortality became a tangible thing to me, and that I couldn’t deal with someone like you becoming someone like me when you were so wonderfully human in my eyes. So to hear it wasn’t that you saw Aro and knew it was forever,” he shrugged.

Bella turned away from him, looking out the window.

“Forever may have only been a year.” She said quietly, scared to allow her voice to go louder.

They both sat in silence, mourning separate losses for a few miles.

“What _will_ you do? If Aro… if we beat Caius, and you’re the only Volturi leader left, what will you do?” Edward asked.

“I don’t want the throne.” She told him. “I will fight for it in Aro’s honor, but if he’s… if I’m fighting just to make sure Caius doesn’t keep it? I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I can’t lead the vampire world, I’ve barely been in it a year. And depending on who stands with us? I don’t want ancients like Amun being at the helm, not when he doesn’t treat every vampire the same.” She sighed. “I suppose I would reach out to….” She trailed off, eyes going wide. “Sulpicia.”

She fumbled for her phone, and quickly pulled it out of her pocket, going through her contacts.

It rang twice. “I’m somewhere in Canada. Cold, and dark and no I haven’t found them but they’re still alive as of right now.” Demetri replied.

“Awesome, good to know. Not why I’m calling.” Bella said. “Sulpicia.”

A groan. “I forgot about her. Well, more accurately I didn’t think of her.”

“Do you have her phone number? Does she even have one?”

Demetri snickered. “She doesn’t. But I’ll text you the number of someone who does who could get a hold of her.”

“Awesome. You’re the best.” Bella smiled. “Be safe without me there to cover your ass.”

Demetri chuckled warmly. “You too, mistress.” He disconnected the call before she could retort, and a moment later a number was sent to her.

She didn’t hesitate to ring it.

It went a little longer than expected, and when the call did connect there was a few seconds of quiet before anyone said anything.

“Hello?” A high, timid voice asked.

“I’ve been told you could put me through to Sulpicia,” Bella replied. “My name’s Bella, I’m-”

“Give me that, darling.” Another woman said, and Edward and Bella exchanged glances with one another. “Bella?” The woman asked.

“Sulpicia?” She asked in turn.

“Yes.” She replied, her relief palpable. “You’re alive.”

Hope blossomed in Bella’s chest. “Have you heard from Aro?”

“No, I haven’t,” She said sympathetically, and hope died instantly. “Heidi came to us.” She explained. “She’s… it’s not pretty. She put up a hell of a fight, I can say that much.”

Bella choked a sob of both relief and regret. “We didn’t get to hear from her from long before we lost her. Demetri and me, I mean. He’s… he’s trying to find Aro and Felix now.”

“Caius is already sending out feelers,” Sulpicia said bitterly. “Hasn’t released the twins upon the world yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I told my coven if they didn’t want to stand up against him they didn’t have to. Not surprising, they went into hiding. Calliope and I are with Heidi trying to figure out what to do next.”

“If you can, go to Forks, Washington.”

“Actually, if you can, go to Denali, Alaska for now. Eleazar lives there with his coven.” Edward cut in, and Bella frowned at him.

“I won’t take orders from you, whoever you are.” Sulpicia countered disdainfully.

“That would be Edward. And I’m not giving an order.” Bella assured. “I’m making a suggestion. Forks is where Carlisle Cullen lives. We’re all away from the house for the time being. You can’t hunt in the area, anywhere west of the Olympic mountain is essentially like Volterra, and you can’t go on the beach. Stay to the house, I’m sure you’d find it.”

“Your friends,” Heidi said, her voice cracked and barely recognizable. “That’s why the beach.”

“Yes,” Bella said, hoping the pain in her soul at hearing Heidi so unlike herself wasn’t terribly evident. “Jacob’s with Edward and I now, we’re going to try and see if we can get some help. The second in charge isn’t as friendly with our kind.” Bella explained, a rather loud snore from the backseat punctuating her sentence.

“I’m afraid to ask,” Sulpicia said. “You can count on us, Bella. I do wish we were about to meet under very different circumstances. I had hoped Aro would bring you to Greece.”

“Maybe he still will, someday,” Bella said, forcing her smile.

“Maybe.” Sulpicia agreed, sounding very much the same. “We’ll make a plan to find you somewhere.” She said. “Until then.”

“Good luck,” Bella said, hanging up, staring at the phone in her hand.

“You want her to take the throne if the worst happens,” Edward said after a moment.

“She wanted to be a queen.” Bella retorted. “If there is one thing I know about her that I heard from everyone, it’s that she married Aro because of what being his wife could give her. If he’s not here to take it back for himself, then I want her to have it.” 

Edward nodded, smiling slightly. 

“That’s one,” he pointed out. “But the Volturi was made up of three. It should stay three.”

“Is this how we’re going to pass the time while Jake’s sleeping? We’re going to pick the ruling government in case we win this? Sulpicia. And who else? Demetri?”

“What about someone _not_ from the Volturi?” Edward countered.

“We could stick you on a throne?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Carlisle.” Edward countered.

“No, Emmett,” Bella smirked. “He’d probably demand a big hat.”

Edward grimaced. “Think of Rosalie, though. I love her but she should never be put in that position. I’m pretty sure her ego is big enough.”

“Alice then?” 

“I’d vote for Alice,” Edward nodded.

As if he agreed, Jacob let out a rather loud snore.

  
  


~AB~

They were nearing the crossing point as the moon rose higher in the sky. 

Aro and Felix stayed silent as the sunset and the night fell, as Aro had been reminded of a conversation he’d glimpsed in Victoria’s mind. Her mate, her proper mate, had hunted a child of the moon not terribly far from where he and Felix were now. 

Their instincts were on high alert, their surroundings too bright for comfort. 

Every rustle of the leaves they passed, every broken branch not from them, had both of them glancing around, unsure what they might encounter in the dark.

“Damned if we run, damned if we don’t.” Felix breathed as one such instance of unknown movement had them halting. “The one time Caius didn’t go after things tirelessly.”

“He was terrified,” Aro replied, glancing about. “As he had a right to be.”

There didn’t seem to be any danger, so they continued.

Anticipation began to curl in Aro’s gut as he knew they were getting close to that perfect point where they could submerge in the Pacific, and travel the twenty miles beneath the sea to Alaska. Less than a half-day and they could be somewhere where he could more easily get to Isabella, where Felix could find Demetri, where something could be done about this whole mess.

It was the rapid beat of three hearts that had Aro and Felix halt, as well the smell of unappealing blood.

It wasn’t far out, less than a mile. They could probably run past and not be noticed. But the blood had a familiar tinge to it that Aro couldn’t properly place. Human hearts also didn’t beat that fast, not even at their most fearful.

“You can go on,” He told Felix. 

Felix shook his head.

Aro nodded, and they moved quietly and swiftly as one toward the sound and smell.

“Shit,” Felix breathed as they got near the scene. 

It had been a millennium since Aro had seen a proper werewolf. So different from the pack he had encountered in Forks. While those wolves were quite beautiful, these were grotesque things. A beast acting like a man, walking upright, forelegs more like arms dragging on the ground. They were always as thin as if there was no flesh at all between the skin and the bones. Immortality like that… he couldn’t imagine. 

Cornered by the wolves was a young man, bleeding and glaring at the creatures in front of him, a rather sharp stick in his hand and nothing more.

“I’ll not ask you to go against them,” Aro told Felix without looking at him, noting that the werewolves’ ears perked up.

“You don’t need to.” Felix replied, and the two of them jumped out as one with a growl.

Aro wrestled one of the ugly beasts to the ground, the pair rolling before Aro managed to get the upper hand. The werewolf snapped and lunged, clawed at him, and caused Aro to his as a claw dug into his arm. But a quick, swift motion, and he snapped the werewolf’s neck. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Felix was having a bit of a struggle against the creature that was nipping dangerously close to his face. Aro jumped over on the werewolf’s back and snapped its neck.

“Never fought one of those before,” Felix said with overwhelming relief as Aro slid off the creature’s back and let it fall to the ground.

“They’re what one might call an utter bastard to deal with,” Aro agreed. “Immune to most things, and incredibly strong. But unlike us, they aren’t as quick to move when it’s not a run, and they can’t put themselves to right.” He then turned to the young man, looking over him. 

His leg was bleeding, as was his arm. The smell of it made Aro’s throat scratchy but nothing desperate. 

Aro took off his jacket, tearing the sleeves from it, tossing the remains of the ruined garment aside before moving to kneel down and look into a set of brown eyes., 

“How are you feeling, Jack?” He asked with a slight uptick of his lips before gingerly picked up Jack’s leg and began to wrap it.

“I’m surprised you recognize me.” He replied, his voice just starting to deepen.

He’d grown a lot in the nine months since Aro saw him last. He looked about the age of the immortal child he’d seen in Japan just the day before. But his features were familiar, as were the eyes, and the scent of the hybrid had been familiar enough that Aro recognized it.

“You must have realized our memories are as good as yours.” Aro countered. 

“I did, but it had been a while. I wasn’t sure.” Jack shrugged before wincing as Aro tied off the sleeve. 

“Where is Lissy?” Aro asked as he moved on to Jack’s arm.

“Dead,” Jack replied. “Those things got to her. We fled Australia after you let us go. She knew it likely wouldn’t end well, didn’t trust dad wouldn’t do something stupid. She figured if she had your blessing to keep me she was going to do it on her own. We’d been nomadic, moving where we liked until these two picked up our scent in Mongolia. She was captured, told me to run. I kept going.”

“Will he turn?” Felix asked over Aro’s shoulder.

“No, I don’t believe he will,” Aro said, looking up at the moon above, free of clouds. “I think he’d have already shown signs if he were.”

“I think that’s the only reason they didn’t kill me off,” Jack said, using the stick he’d had as his only weapon to help him to his feet. He leaned on it once standing. “I think they were trying to see if I would be some sort of super hybrid. Stings, though.”

“Their venom is likely trying to work against your own.” Aro acknowledged. 

Carlisle might be able to help, but he doubted Jack could go beneath the water with his mostly human physiology. They didn’t have time or means to find another way across. Theft was tricky, especially these days with all the ways humans kept track of their possessions. A boat wouldn’t be any faster than a run below the surface, but it would get this young man to a doctor that might be able to treat his wounds.

Aro growled.

“Caius was right.” He grumbled before looking at Jack. “I’m going to carry you on my back, and we are going to find a way to Alaska. I don’t know how your injuries are going to fair even if we stop the bleeding, but a friend of mine in North America happens to have medical knowledge.”

Jack shook his head. “I’ll be a burden to you, only slow you down.”

“Are you serious?” Felix asked, and Aro glanced at him.

“He’s alone. He’s barely a year old. And as I said, I loathe wasting potential. Carlisle could be helpful.” Aro grumbled, getting on his knees for Jack to climb on. “We’ll see how far we can get before sunrise.”

~*~  
  
  


Aro stalked the human on the dock, watching him, seeing where he went if there was anyone he talked to. The old man seemed to be alone in every way, his boat a small thing with a motor but seaworthy enough.

Better than hoping for a human with currency, especially given that he nor Felix had the means of disguising their eyes, and Jack would likely be considered too young to purchase something like that in a human’s mind.

The sun was starting to crest, and he was running out of time. Others would probably start showing up soon. 

Darting out of the old boathouse, Aro snatched the man and brought him back, silencing his startled yelps and relishing the warmth of the blood as it filled his mouth. Odd how he was satisfying despite not being one of particular appeal. Maybe it was because he’d carried a still bleeding Jack for all those miles, the scent of his blood just potent enough through his venom to make Aro thirsty without sending him into a bloodlust.

Once drained, he searched the man’s pockets for keys. Once retrieved he brought the old fisherman over to stack with the two humans that had been Felix and Jack’s meals. 

Aro held up the keys. “Transportation.” He said. “Not ideal, but it’s perhaps better than trying to steal a boat from someone living.”

“They may think it lost to sea with him on it.” Felix agreed, withdrawing a lighter and offering it to Jack who was least likely to get hurt setting the bodies on fire. Jack then hobbled over to a gas can, grabbing it then pouring the liquid over the remains.

“It’s possible, and we can always send it back out on the water once we get to Alaska.” Aro agreed as Jack took care of their evidence. It was only after the flames were active that he cursed himself for not retrieving any mobile devices. Probably for the best, as those things were becoming more and more traceable. “We should go before this draws attention.” He said, and Felix assisted Jack as they dashed to the little fishing boat.

Engines started, and the boat was a mile out before the sound of sirens caught their ears, the flashing red lights just visible in the distance. Perhaps not the most stealthy escape, nor the most inconspicuous of hunts. But they were gone, and if they had been seen by any sort of human surveillance it was likely that they would think it had malfunctioned. Men didn’t move so fast they blurred, after all.

~AB~

They had parked the car at the house just outside of Ithaca. Jacob took the time to do his own mortal thing while the sun shone too brightly for Bella and Edward to be out. 

It had been nearly two full days of travel, and while they had managed to get in touch with the rest of the family, no one had found their targets yet. Emmett and Rosalie had touched down in Dublin the day before but hadn’t had the chance to seek out the coven Carlisle knew of. Carlisle, Esme, and Bree had only been in Egypt for a few hours and had to wait for the right time to go in search of that coven. Alice and Jasper had made it to the south just a few hours ago and was beginning their on-foot search for Peter and Charlotte.

Demetri hadn’t called, and there was no other means of updates from him or anyone else.

“This sucks,” She said to her reflection in the window.

“It’s not ideal,” Edward agreed as he came up behind her, looking out at the thin trees around the house. “It’s more developed than when we had lived here last. Carlisle’s always been big on keeping the houses up to date and in good repair. But I think this may be one where they might need to sell-off. Hunting is pretty much out of the question.”

Bella didn’t argue that that was only for Edward. She had no problem going out and grabbing a human, but she also didn’t feel the need to hunt just yet. They had stopped on the side of the highway not long after she had called Sulpicia a few nights before when a family of deer caught their eye. It was a quick fix, and one that would ensure a problem like this one wouldn’t cause them to grow thirsty any time soon.

“It was supposed to be over,” Bella said as she crossed her arms. “The fighting, the worry. Victoria being gone was supposed to be the end of it.”

Hesitantly, Edward put his hand on Bella’s shoulder. “This isn’t anything any of us could have predicted. Even Alice.”

“You really don’t think she saw anything before?” Bella turned to Edward, his hand remaining on her shoulder. “You really don’t think she had a glimpse of any of this?”

He shook his head. “Not like this.” He swore. “Alice had visions of the future not long after Aro arrived in Forks last year, and while she would sort of blur them when I was around, I caught snippets. Aro happy in the throne room with you. Vampires greeting him happily while you’re with him. It was never supposed to be this. I would guess the decision made for all this to have happened had to have been very last minute.”

Bella nodded, looking back out the window.

“I can only think of one time he and I were happy in the throne room. A bit of a stolen moment on our way back from meeting Julie, the vampire I suggested to find. Not long after I changed, I asked if he would endeavor to treat gifted vampires as he said he would treat me. When he met Julie, he kept that promise. He destroyed the one vampire that knew he was lying when he said she was simply a mind reader, and he let her and the coven go.”

She glanced at Edward who frowned back in concern.

She snickered. “It’s not like it was our _only_ happy moment ever. There are actually a lot. Hunting with Demetri and Felix, or just the two of us. Spending time with Marcus in his study. Just Aro and me together in his chair, reading, or talking, just being. Being together. Taunting and teasing. But the throne room has never been a place for happy because there’s decorum. Except that one night, when it was just us.”

Edward’s frown softened, and he gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe the rest might happen, then.” He tried to sound like he believed it could, but something in his tone fell short.

“Maybe,” Bella agreed if only to cling to the hope that something good might come out of all this.

She had no idea what sort of reach Caius had. She didn’t know if he would be able to stretch the feelers Sulpicia mentioned this far out, to know what she was up to. But if there was any hope for a future with Aro greeting vampires with her at his side in their home, she was going to fight for it.

And if it was gone, she would greatly enjoy watching Caius burn for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, thank you all so much for reading. I loved seeing the surprise in the comments. I promise we ARE going to see what happened in Volterra later on.  
> I'm hoping to have another update by then, but if not then happy Halloween to all those that celebrate!


	34. Chapter 34

They came ashore at the edge of a mountain a few miles away from the nearest town, not wanting to raise questions. Jack was a bit paler, and while not bleeding profusely, his injuries were still trickling.

Felix’s eyes were growing dark, and Aro had no doubt he was the same. 

“We need to hunt,” Aro said as they pushed the now empty boat back out to sea. They had taken relatively good care of it, avoiding rocks while coming ashore. But as it would possibly lead authorities to find them after the arson and their escape, it was a good idea to set it loose. The less certainty the better, and Aro already disliked skirting the rules as he was,

“We need to find somewhere safe for Jack first,” Felix said, glancing around. “We can-”

Aro had heard it too, coming over the mountain. The familiar sound of a vampire at a full run.

Someone was coming for them. 

While it was possible the humans wouldn’t have known what or who to look for yet, if any vampire had heard of the rather suspicious and messy disposal, the information could have made its way to Caius. It really wouldn’t take much for the information to be passed back along, and have someone searching Alaska for them. What’s more, there were the Denalis not terribly far away that would have been seen as almost a big a threat as the Cullens. If someone hadn’t been after the pair specifically, Aro didn’t doubt that if they picked up on two vampires just arriving nearby that they wouldn’t come snooping about.

Aro and Felix stood at the ready in the direction of the sound, anticipation for a fight high between them as they watched the mountain peak.

Then Felix stood up perfectly straight, his eyes glimmering with hope and venom.

Aro couldn’t catch a taste on the wind but knew that Felix had somehow known this unknown was not a threat and eased as well.

It was only a second later that Aro understood why.

Demetri didn’t even pause as he crested the ridge. He tore down the other side of the mountain, making a direct line for Felix who after only a moment moved to meet his mate part way. He hadn’t gotten terribly far, Demetri’s speed working with gravity as well as Felix’s shock to close the distance between them with a thunderous crack.

Arms were wrapped around one another, holding firm as lips clashed with each other in an uncharacteristic display of public affection. Aro had to avert his eyes, the feeling of being a voyeur to the scene far stronger than any moment glimpsed from within someone’s memories. This was live, something he could see with his own eyes and not through another’s lens.

He still couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips, pleased that the two found each other.

He waited a respectable time before looking back, finding the two with their foreheads pressed together and still gripping one another as if any moment one or both could disappear.

And then he looked up at the peak, hoping, waiting, and yet knowing in his soul that Bella wasn’t about to appear there as well. 

“Aro,” Demetri got his attention. “She’s with the Cullens.”

His smile dimmed only a little, and Aro nodded.

Demetri looked to Felix, gave him one more quick, firm kiss before stepping away and holding his hand out to Aro. “She’s waiting for you.”

Aro looked at the offered hand, and then to his former guard. He was nearly tempted to remind Demetri that he didn’t have to report back. Instead, he took the hand and dove in.

He quickly shuffled to get to the ones that would be new to him. Isabella at the airport, her exasperation at being chaperoned. Her reunion with young Jacob. Her trying to act more human for the benefit of her father. Her-

“She hunted animals?” Aro said aloud, his face screwing up in distaste as he watched Edward encourage her to continue with the practice after her first run.

“It baffled me as well,” Demetri commented.

“Perhaps leaving her there wasn’t the best idea, then,” Felix grumbled as Aro continued in Demetri’s memories.

The wedding, and the vision she was in that brown dress. The perfect way she handled Charlie Swan’s inquiries. Then came the rest.

The call from Heidi, the panic and fear, the uncertainty of what it would mean. At least Aro knew for certain that Caius had been the one behind it all. Then Aro watched through Demetri’s memories as Bella changed in a blink from the uncertain woman she had been before to a confident leader of the vampire race. Her shoulders squared, head held high, asking for resources, declaring she would fight for Aro, whether in name alone or not.

“Oh, she was magnificent, wasn’t she?” Aro asked as he swallowed back the venom that pooled in his mouth. 

Demetri said nothing, though he smiled rather smugly. 

Aro almost pulled away, assuming Demetri’s leaving the Cullens would be the end, but a flex of Demetri’s fingers on his hand had him staying.

Then he realized there was one more very brief conversation where Bella asked for a way to contact Sulpicia.

“ _Quella donna meravigliosa*,”_ Aro marveled, his love and appreciation for his mate growing all the more.

“I want to think she’s still at the Cullen residence, but I don’t believe that to be the case. Unfortunately, I happen to be out of power for my mobile device.” Demetri said regrettably as he withdrew his hand from Aro’s. He immediately reached out for Felix. “But we should go, and soon.”

“We shall,” Aro agreed, looking down at Jack. “I’m afraid you’ll have to tolerate my back again.”

“‘S fine,” Jack assured, getting to his legs shakily.

Demetri frowned. “You’re the hybrid.” He said, and then his eyes went wide. “Alice Cullen couldn’t see either of you once you left Japan.”

“Another blind spot in dear Alice’s visions,” Aro said as he kneeled, allowing Jack to climb on his back. He then looked to the sky, the sun not strong enough for them to catch the light, but not something they should risk for overlong. “I do hope you have some financial means with you. We already caused more of a scene rather too close to exposure for my liking.”

Demetri nodded, "head to the other side of the mountain, we’ll get a vehicle, pick you and the hybrid up there. We can head toward the Denali’s from there.” 

~*~

Aro drove with Jack in the front with him to allow Felix and Demetri the reassurance of being with one another again. Centuries of being with one another all the time with few exceptions, he could understand how the last few days of uncertainty would make it rather difficult to part from one another now. 

If he found Isabella again….

No, _when_ he found Isabella again, he doubted very much he would ever allow himself to part from her. 

Until then, he would just have to hope his former guard would be a friend to him, or at the very least be enough of an ally to put him in touch with Carlisle.

Demetri had purchased the car under less than legal means. The physical currency wasn’t something that could be tracked, and while Aro was confident Caius had absolutely no idea how any of the finances worked, Aro didn’t trust that someone who happened to be with him still didn’t as well. Santiago, for instance, seemed to have no problem relaying the order to kill him and would be just familiar enough with the modern world to have an idea how to use a purchase to find them.

Cash also meant buy from scrupulous people. Those scrupulous people - the one who sold his car and his less than reputable friends who followed Demetri and he while the former took the vehicle for a “test drive” were now at the base of the mountain, drained. Their car nothing more than a pile of scrap nearby.

Aro glanced at Jack in the passenger seat, a healthier glow to his skin now that he’d fed. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

Jack looked at him, then back out the window. “Still weak.” He replied, “And my leg hurts more than my arm.”

“From walking on it, no doubt.” He remarked. “Soon we should at least have you somewhere relatively safe.”

They drove for another half an hour, past the actual city of the coven’s namesake, and deeper into a remote area.

Their home was more aesthetically pleasing than the Cullens’. Still grand and lovely with plenty of windows, but at least this one looked more like a cabin fit for the area than a strange attempt at modern architecture better suited for sculptures. 

He parked the car. Glancing in the back before looking out the window to see the four remaining coven members emerge from inside.

A frown marred Eleazar’s face and a slight scowl on the blonde sisters’. Carmine seemed rather indifferent if not curious.

Aro got out first, allowing Demetri and Felix to leave at their own pace, and Jack a moment longer to rest.

As Aro approached Eleazar he removed his gloves from his pant pockets and slipped them on before extending his hands toward his former guard.

“Eleazar,” He smiled. “It’s been too long.”

“Aro,” he greeted with a nod, then offered his hand for a shake. “What… brings you here?”

The car doors opened, three of them, and Aro could hear Felix offering Jack aid.

“Have you spoken to Carlisle as of late?” Aro asked in turn.

Eleazar shook his head. “Only after you called to inform us about Irina.” He focused on Jack. “What is going on?”

“I’ll explain inside. Our friend Jack here will need to sit if it’s alright. And I’m hoping you may allow me to connect with Carlisle. And, if I’m lucky, Bella.”

~AB~

They’d crossed paths with nomads, making their way south from Ithaca after being directed only a little way north. Jacob would be in the woods or the shadows, human or world it really didn’t matter. He set the vampires they asked on edge.

And if he didn’t, Bella did.

“Am I in trouble?” Would usually be a question immediately posed when her crest was spotted.

“No, not at all. I’m not here to judge. I’m looking for a nomad named Garrett.” 

There would be a frown, apprehension.

“We’re trying to help him,” Edward would say, likely hearing the apprehension from the nomads, probably wondering if they could get away with lying.

“Caius wants him dead.” Bella would suggest. “Aro sent me to help him.”

Usually, a suspicious frown. Rarely was there understanding or support.

“Bella’s Aro’s wife.” Edward would say then, the words clearly tasting bitter on his tongue. Bella would shoot him a glare every time, but this was usually read as her having wanted her to keep her connection hidden. None of them ever knew it was because she _wasn’t_ Aro’s wife, and would Edward please stop saying she was?

But somehow, most times, that would somehow assure the nomad they spoke to, and directions were given. Yes, they’d seen him in passing, he was heading south. Sometimes east, normally west. 

They followed the clues to Maryland, stopping to hunt along the way. 

“Your eyes,” Edward noted with a half-grin as they walked down the streets of Baltimore at night. “They’re already changing.”

“What?” Bella asked, wrinkling her nose.

“They aren’t as red anymore. In this light, they’re a dark orange.” He pointed out.

“Still a bit freaky, though.” Jacob pointed out, and Bella smirked before gently elbowing him.

A group of guys passed them, eyeing her over the look in their eyes familiar. If this was home, she’d flirt, seduce, bring them to the nearest alleyway and have her very special way with them. She may not have had a preference for blood, but it had become more satisfying to drink from the idiots who openly leered at her.

But she was with Edward and Jacob, and she was going to behave herself for now.

“Still. another few weeks, they’ll be more amber than red. And then a few months after that-”

“I’ll either be back in Italy or dead so it won’t matter.” Bella cut him off. “It’s just easier doing the animal thing for now.”

They headed toward a different alley, the foot traffic thinning out as the neighborhood got shadier and the hour grew later. 

She could smell vampire, more than one, as well as the sharp scent of blood down the darkened street. No lights were on in the buildings around, and no traffic could be heard any closer than a few streets over.

Bella looked to Jacob in warning, and he fell back. 

She and Edward exchanged a glance and turned the corner.

There were five of them, and a few bodies scattered about on the asphalt. They had been arguing, something about territory and how one of them had to move on. 

Three were to the left, dressed rather punk-like. They’d probably get away walking down the street with red eyes simply because most would assume they were contacts. There was a bald one, a male with long, curly hair, and a woman.

The other two were dressed rather sharply in comparison. Nothing like fine suits or business casual. Both had black jeans, but while one wore a black leather jacket over a blue shirt, the other had on a purple pullover.

They fell silent as she and Edward walked at a human pace toward them.

“No,” The bald punk said. “No, absolutely not. We’re not sharing any more space. Why are you all here, anyway?”

“We won’t be here for long,” Bella told them. “We’re looking for a nomad named Garrett. We heard he was passing through this way.” 

The non-punk looked sharply at her, then down to her crest for a moment.

“Bella,” Edward said quietly, his tone one of warning.

“Bella?” Bald punk repeated, his mouth curling into a grin. He looked at the pair. “Didn’t you say you were looking for a Bella?”

“We did.” Leather Jacket smiled. “And I believe I said you would all be very well rewarded if you helped us.”

“Yes you did, so what do we do?” The curly-haired punk asked.

“I’m guessing you work for Caius,” Bella stated, hoping Jacob could hear them while not in wolf form. It was beginning to look like they would need backup this time.

“Actually, we're friends with Santiago, _he_ works for Caius.” Purple Pullover corrected as he began slowly stalking forward. “Guess he respects a man who doesn't try and hide behind smiles and platitudes.” 

Jacob’s heartbeat grew louder as he joined them in the alley, his footsteps echoing in the quiet.

“Hey guys,” He said in that carefree, almost polite way of his all while glaring down the other vampires. 

The woman narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air. “Smell that? That’s werewolf out of cycle.”

"I told you you’re still a magnet for trouble,” Jacob said as he stood at Bella’s left. 

Bella twitched a grin but kept her eyes focused on the two that had ties to the Volturi. 

“What did you think an out of cycle werewolf would do?” Leather Jacket asked her, speaking to Bella as though she were dense. 

Edward laughed a breathy chuckle that had him shaking his head. Bella glanced at him, and he met her eye.

“He thinks this is going to be easy,” Edward explained.

“It’s not?” She countered.

From where she was standing, even with Jacob, it was five to three. The guys at least were all a lot bigger than Edward, and Bella had witnessed how he nearly lost to Riley. She knew he wasn’t alone in fending off James, not in the end. And Bella also knew she wasn’t much of a fighter.

She wanted to believe they’d all make it out, but the odds weren’t exactly with them.

“What the hell? Did you just read my mind?” Leather Jacket asked. “Is that a thing for you, mind readers?” He asked Bella.

The woman scoffed, “I can’t say I blame her.”

“Maybe he can read my mind,” bald punk said. “Know exactly what I think about-”

“What’s happening here?” Garrett’s voice interrupted from the other end of the alley.

Bella perked up, hope rising in her for the first time since her conversation with Sulpicia.

Garrett sauntered over, looking first at the five gathered about, then past them to meet her eyes.

He smiled. “Well look at you. Got that immortal make-over after all.” He said, gesturing at her.

“Told you I would.” She replied with a grin.

“And still running in some very interesting circles, I see.” Garrett edged a little closer, eyes falling on Bella’s crest, then darting to Jacob. “Interesting indeed.”

“I don’t know who you are, but she’s wanted by the Volturi.” Purple pullover told him, clearly believing that this would have Garrett quaking in his boots and turning tail.

Instead, he turned toward Purple Pullover and arched a brow in confusion. “She is the Volturi.” He pointed out, gesturing to Bella.

“Not anymore she isn’t.” Leather Jacket corrected. 

“That depends,” Bella said with a tilt of her chin, the action making it seem like she was looking down her nose at the much bigger and likely older vampire. “Because Caius would have stolen the name for himself, he was never one of the originals. So from where I’m standing, it’s you that lost the right to the connection."

Garrett’s eyebrows went up, and he turned to her in surprise. 

“Listen to the self-righteousness on this one. Thinks she’s so much bigger than she is because she just happened to spread’em for-”

Purple Pullover never finished his sentence.

One second he was about to be very rude, the next his head was in the mouth of one very pissed off brown wolf.

The other vampires screamed, then four of them immediately turned on Bella and Edward.

Leather jacket came after her, not that she was at all surprised. Bella went to jump over him, and he caught her leg, bringing her down to the ground hard. She could feel her face crack from the impact, and while disoriented, she fought to move before he could go for her.

She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a hand around her throat. Crouched on the ground, she got herself together in the second before Leather jacket made for her again. This time, though, she kicked back. The solar plexus still seemed to be a soft spot for a vampire, and the connection thrilled her. Even though he wasn’t out of breath as a human would be, he was at least taken aback. At least enough that she could jump from her crouch, turn in the air, and land on his shoulders. He immediately went for her legs, and she could feel him start to try and rip them off as Bella grabbed him under the chin and start to pull back. 

She could hear the cracks of his neck, and the grip on her legs changed to clawing at her hands hoping to get her off of him. Her newborn strength was waning, but there was just enough left in her to give one final tug and pull Leather jacket’s head from his neck.

“Jake,” She called, getting his attention as Purple Pullover was no more. “Catch,” She said, tossing Leather Jacket’s head toward him. Jacob caught in his mouth, and the crunch and crush of stone echoed through the alley. 

She then turned to see Edward was struggling with bald punk, but only just. They both had hands around one another’s heads, a stalemate that had them locked together. Bella charged, tackling the punk and allowing Edward to separate head from body with ease. 

Jacob wouldn’t be able to crush all the heads, and even if he could, the remainder of the bodies would need to be destroyed. From her leather coat, Bella pulled out her lighter, tore a piece of fabric from the punk’s clothes, and lit the end. She then tossed the burning fabric onto the body, watching it catch immediately. Edward tossed the head in, and Bella zipped back to get Leather Jacket’s body, as well as Purple Pullovers.

Jacob had finished with Leather Jacket’s head and took one of the two remaining punks from Garrett. He, in turn, tossed the other head as well as the other two bodies on the ever-growing bonfire. 

“Well,” He said after a minute of watching the fire. “When I met you I thought you were interesting, but this is a whole new level of it.”

Bella looked at him and grinned. “We were looking for you.” She told him.

“Were you? I’m flattered.” He replied.

“We need your help,” Edward explained just as Jacob came over and nosed him. He looked to the wolf, then rolled his eyes. “You’re going to have to wait for clothes.”

“You could go get him some.” Bella pointed out. “He did save our asses, it’s the least you can do.”

Edward rolled his eyes, then darted off.

Bella was very sure Jacob was smiling at that, but she very much couldn’t tell. She ruffled the fur on his head in a manner very much like she would have done in his human form, and then turned to Garrett.

“I need your help.” She told him, and in the time it took Edward to return with fresh clothes for Jacob, explained their situation.

Garrett, understandably, looked very torn.

“A part of me thinks they had it comin’,” He confessed as Jacob turned to head down to the far end of the alley where Edward set the new clothes to allow him some privacy. “But I can’t argue that the guy in charge is a bit of a prick.”

“I wouldn’t ask if I thought that maybe things in our world would be alright if we left it be.” Bella shook her head. “I know you’re against that type of rule, and while I can’t promise things will be better after, I can at least say that the people who I would want to take over would be in Forks with us. You can try and make a case for a different way. And if… if Aro’s alive, I’m sure he would compromise on some things for me.” She argued, exuding confidence she really didn’t have.

But Garrett grinned. “Damn it all, but if you told me a year ago when we met that you belonged to Aro I’d have probably thought the same thing as that ass hat this guy used as a chew toy. But you, you’re the real deal, aren’t you? He belongs to you, not the other way around.”

Bella huffed, sure if she could have she’d have blushed. “We belong _with_ each other, not to one another.” She corrected. 

“Still not sure about that, though I do wonder have to wonder what that’s like. Having someone like that.” Garrett said wistfully.

Edward bowed his head but said nothing.

A moment later a human Jacob jogged back over to them redressed.

“Did you really strip naked on the streets of Baltimore?” Bella asked him.

He shrugged. “Better than trying to be a rather large wolf walking down the streets of Baltimore. So, he in?” He asked, gesturing with his head toward Garrett.”

Bella looked at him, hoping he could see how desperately she wanted him to say yes.

Garrett shook his head with a grin, sighing. “A Volturi mate, a part of the Cullen coven, and you’re friendly with a special sort of werewolf. I have to see what happens with you next. Though you better deliver, because my pride as a Yankee is awfully sore for aligning myself with a king, fallen, unofficial, or otherwise.”

“Think of it as siding with a queen,” Edward said with a small smile. “It helps.”

“Bet it does.” Garrett agreed with a smirk and a wink. He clearly had a thought that Edward heard, though whether good or bad, Bella couldn’t decipher. Edward had turned away, almost like he was embarrassed.

“We need to start heading back,” She told the three men. “Others will be arriving or getting back soon, and it’s still a couple days to Forks.”

“We left a car in Ithaca,” Edward told Garrett. “You’re welcome to join.”

“Suppose it’ll help me get used to the smell. He said with a pointed look at Jacob.

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Like none of you smell bad.” He grumbled before the four of them turned and left the alleyway, beginning their journey back.

~AB~

  
“Eleazar, it's good to hear from you,” Carlisle answered his phone warmly.

“I’m afraid you're rather mistaken, my dear friend,” Aro replied watching as Kate and Carmen helped Jack get settled on the leather sofa.

“Aro,” Carlisle corrected with warmth. “I’m glad to hear you’re alive. Has Demetri…?”

“Yes, he found Felix and I. Though, to be frank, Carlisle, as much as I do so enjoy our conversations I had rather hoped you would be able to pass me along to Isabella.”

There was a beat of silence. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. She’s not here.”

Aro huffed. “Well, where is she, then? I’ve attempted to call her mobile but she did not answer.”

“She went with Edward and Jacob to find someone to stand with us,” Carlisle explained.

“And either of them? Is there no way to get in communication with them?” He asked, patience thinning rather rapidly.

“It’s possible their batteries died, especially if they went on foot for any length of time. We only got a message from a day or two ago telling us to expect an arrival at the house. And to pass on that said arrival may go to Alaska instead. I suppose it was too much to hope that the arrival was you?”

“Considering I have not spoken to my mate in nearly a week, no it was not.” Aro sighed, the desire to break something ever-growing with his frustrations. “How is it that no one is able to get in touch with them, especially given the current state of affairs?”

“Technology is fallible,” Carlisle said gently as though talking to one of his coven. Aro’s tongue pressed into the back of his teeth as his jaw tensed. He consciously ensured his grip would not tighten further around the older device in his hand, and cursed that he couldn’t pace as the telephone was one of those infuriating things still connected to the wall. 

“You’ve returned?” He asked, remembering from Demetri’s memories the talks of going to Ireland to seek out the coven there.

Carlisle hesitated. “We have.” He answered, his tone odd. “We had some unexpected success in finding someone willing to go up against Caius with you.”

“If you’ve returned from your travels and are once more in Forks, I’ll go to you. I encountered a young man who will need your medical assistance, I believe. I’m sure you’ll find the case rather interesting.” Aro said, glancing at Jack who watched him with amusement.

“Alright,” Carlisle said slowly, quite confused. “We should be expecting you in a couple days, then?”

“Possibly sooner.” Aro agreed. He replaced the receiver in the cradle and then turned to Jack. “I do hope you aren’t terribly comfortable.”

“Leaving already?” The young man asked. Aro nodded.

He turned to Demetri and Felix. “I want to thank you both for getting me this far, and Demetri for protecting Isabella while you did.”

“You make it sound as if I didn’t promise to bring you both back to her.” Demetri countered, tilting his head.

Aro shook his head. “I’ll not ask nor do I expect you two to join us in this. You have each other, you can leave and seek a place of your own. But if you should hear we come out in this victorious, you’ll always be welcome back into the coven.”

Felix snorted. “You make it sound like we weren’t going to stand with you as it is.”

“He likely killed Heidi.” Demetri reminded Aro. “And who knows who else aside from Chelsea and Marcus. And now that I know Bella can stand up to the twins-”

“Bella can do what now?” Felix asked his mate.

“Another time,” Aro replied. He turned to Demetri. “I want to leave as quickly as possible. I want to be in Forks when she returns or shortly thereafter.”

“Then we’ll go.” Demetri agreed, moving to Jack and helping the boy get to his feet.

“We’ll join you in a few days,” Eleazar said, Carmen nodding at his side. 

“You should be warned,” Aro cautioned as Tanya and Kate joined their coven mates. “Irina wasn’t incorrect in her assumptions about the wolves. I could not, however, allow that truth to be known to Caius. They aren’t true werewolves, and what’s more, is that they aided the Cullens against the Seattle newborns. Isabella is a close friend to the alpha. It’s this lie that essentially put Irina in the greatest danger of losing her life. For that, I apologize.” 

“Irina had stopped listening to reason,” Tanya assured. “We tried to explain that Laurent was likely not her mate, that she was merely very attached, but she wouldn’t listen. And when Carlisle explained to us what happened, she wasn’t around to hear it. But I doubt she would have anyway.”

“Nevertheless, given our history, Tanya.” Aro started, but she shook her head.

“Sasha made her own bed. You may have enjoyed seeing her burn then, but….”

“Caius enjoyed it more,” Kate said firmly. “And you could have burned us with her, it’s clearly what many of the others there had wanted. But you didn’t. She broke the law, and we had no knowledge of that. But you could have easily said we did.” 

“We shall see you in Forks in a few days,” Eleazar said with a smile this time and a nod.

“I thank you again for your help,” Aro replied, clasping Eleazar’s hand in his gloved ones, then turning to head out the door to join the three other men in the car.

~*~

He ran through the wooded area, the land familiar to him after a couple of months spent going to and from the quaint little spot the Cullens called home.

Demetri and Felix volunteered to get Jack to the Cullens across the border, allowing Aro to shave even more time off his destination. They traveled by car at its top speed, flying down the nearly empty highways of Alaska and Canada. Once they were near enough to Vancouver, Aro leaped out and sprinted, moving below the water and then across the small island. After another brief submerge, and re-submerge, he was in Washington.

And like his first time there, when he had left Seattle to find Bella, he could sense her near.

Beaming, he set off for the Cullen residence, knowing she would be there soon.

The sun was starting to come up, cresting just over the horizon and painting the sky brilliant shades of blue-green and gold. And there, just a little way ahead from where he now was was the Cullen house. 

He could hear movement within, far more than their normal numbers, more than even just the few more that Carlisle had caused him to expect.

Aro spotted Alice waiting for him on the balcony through the trees, and once within distance, he jumped to land beside her, his cloak fluttering behind him as he landed.

She smiled sadly at him. “It’s good to see you.” She said genuinely. “When you decided to come here from Vancouver, it was the first time I saw you in days.”

Aro smirked, “I think I may know the reason for that, young Alice. You all faired well so far?”

She nodded. “And now that we’ve made it to this point,” She offered him her hand. “Though I want to say, first, that I’m sorry. I know you’ll see that it wasn’t originally meant to be like this, but I still wish there was something I could have done to warn you.”

“There are no apologies necessary,” He said as he removed his gloves. “You once said that foresight isn’t always a good thing.”

Alice smiled more genuinely this time, but before Aro could take her hand, they were distracted by the patio door opening.

He frowned. “Sulpicia?” He asked, surprised to see his ex-wife rushing toward him to give a careful but meaningful embrace. She avoided touching his skin, but squeezed tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” She told him sincerely. “When Heidi came to us-”

“Heidi,” He said, rearing back and gripping Sulpicia’s upper arms. “Is she?”

Sulpicia nodded. “She came with us. But she’s not in good shape.” She warned. “She said she fought off Santiago as best she could, and then someone -she didn’t know who- wrestled him off her. She’s missing part of her throat and a rather large chunk of her hair. She also has bite scars along both sides of her face. I just… you can’t ask her to touch, I don’t want the trauma-”

“She’ll remember it with clarity regardless.” Aro countered. “What I need is to know exactly what happened in Volterra.”

Sulpicia scoffed, stepping away. “You don’t, actually.”

“I do, actually,” He bit out. “Caius has murdered my brother, and I need to know what his motivation was. What he planned, what he said to set all this in motion.”

“She was only there in the aftermath, she can’t tell you anyway.” Sulpicia countered. “Don’t drag it up!”

_“Sei un vampiro da più di mille anni, sapresti che un evento non può essere semplicemente cancellato dalla tua memoria o dimenticato!**”_

“No, it can’t be forgotten, but it can certainly be brought to the forefront and that’s exactly what your invasive caress will do!” Sulpicia snapped back.

Aro growled in his throat, teeth clenched. “Yes,” He grit out. “I’m very _aware_ of what you think of my abilities, _mia affascinante amica_ , since I have been rather intimately privy to them on and off for many a century.”

“And to think for a moment I was rather glad you hadn’t had your head removed.” She snapped back.

He shook his head, nostrils flaring and lips curling when a thought suddenly struck him, and Aro couldn’t help but laugh.

“The last time we disagreed like this we destroyed the east wing of the castle.” He smirked.

Sulpicia, much as she seemed to try and resist, smiled back. “It was just before I met Calliope.” She nodded. “I do hope I’m not inciting the same response I did then?”

“Not in the least.” He assured. “But, our passionate disagreements aside, I’m very glad you and she are safe. While I admit you had not been at the forefront of my mind, I’d have been very worried for you when my other concerns were assuaged.”

She nodded, her attention diverted to something in the direction of the driveway as she frowned. 

“Is that a heartbeat I hear coming closer?” She asked curiously. 

Alice gasped in delight, jumping up and down. “They’re back!” She exclaimed.

For a moment, Aro was about to ask who she meant until when his instincts tingled, sensing Isabella had finally gotten close to him.

He was off the patio and heading to the front of the house in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *That wonderful woman  
> **You have been a vampire for over a thousand years, you would know that an event cannot simply be erased from your memory or forgotten!
> 
> I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!  
> The next chapter is a little longer and we kick off with the other reunion. I'm estimating by my list of things still to happen that there will be about 7 more chapters after this one, give or take a chapter.  
> Until next time.


	35. Chapter 35

The closer they got to Forks, the more eager Bella was to get there, though she couldn’t explain why. She was a vampire, she shouldn’t be bouncing her foot or chewing her finger anxiously while willing the car to go faster. Just because none of them inside were seriously going to get hurt if Edward went faster and something happened didn’t mean she should be damn near frustrated that he wouldn’t simply _go_.

She could just get out of the car and run. Not very leader-like though. Then again, it wasn’t exactly regal to appear as though she were about to crawl out of her skin.

“Eager to get home?” Garrett asked, looking at her over his shoulder with a grin.

“Yeah,” She confessed. 

“It’s not long now,” Edward assured, and Bella wanted to snap at him.

She was aware it wasn’t long. Much like the day she’d returned for Charlie’s wedding she had been watching the signs on the highway tick down the miles to Forks. They were just entering the town limits, and she could imagine her heart would race with anticipation for reasons she didn’t know. 

It bothered her, the giddy zips through her system mixing with the agitation that made her think Edward was driving more like a century-old human than a vampire. 

As they got near the house, Jacob began to fidget like his skin had begun to crawl.

“There are a lot of vampires around.” He grumbled. “More than normal.”

“Really?” Bella asked hopefully. “Do you think they all came?” She asked Edward.

“Carlisle said he didn’t have any luck with Amun, but that he, Esme, and Bree weren’t coming back alone.” Edward had replied with a tiny shrug. “I got their text when my phone turned back on. I hadn’t heard from Emmett and Rosalie, but I wouldn’t take that to heart.”

Bella chewed her lip some more, wishing that taking a deep breath would help calm her instead of giving her a mouthful of awful dog taste. Her plan was working, sort of. People were going to come to her side, to help, to get back what was Aro’s so she could ensure it went to the right vampires for the job if it couldn’t go to him.

They turned down the driveway, and the restlessness increased. Bella clenched her jaw, her lips pursed, her hands in fists on her lap to prevent her from opening the door and just running the rest of the way, making a very un-regal scene. 

Edward’s brow furrowed, then his eyes went wide for a moment before his shoulders dropped. He sighed and glanced at her for a moment with a sad smile.

“Edward?” She asked, worry creeping into her tone. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” He said with a solemn head shake. “It’s nothing, just… you’ll find out soon enough.”

It wasn’t precisely reassuring, and Bella’s anxiety amplified as they got closer to the house.

The house appeared through the trees, as did a black and red blur moving from the side to the front. It stopped, and the second it did, Bella’s face broke out into a large smile, and she could feel her eyes sting.

Edward hadn’t even stopped when she had the back passenger side door flung open. She jumped out and slammed it shut likely before he had even begun to park. Then she was running across the rest of the way to meet the one person she had been desperate to see since this whole mess hit.

Fuck being regal. She’d had enough of that already, and at this moment she didn’t want to be Bella, Volturi leader by succession. She wanted to be Bella, just Bella, who could see with her own eyes that her mate was still very much alive. She didn’t care that she could easily sense about a dozen vampires watching as she ran for the figure in black standing with poise in front of the Cullen house. She needed to touch him, breathe him in, know he wasn’t just a phantom but very real.

She jumped. Toward him, at him, on him, it was all semantics really.

Aro caught her with a gleeful laugh in his throat, arms around her in an instant as she clung tightly to his neck, squeezing just tight enough not to hurt and yet still not nearly enough. She kissed the skin easiest to get to, feeling his hair tickle her nose as she went up from his neck to his jaw, to just behind his ear, making her way across Aro’s cheek until she got his lips.

She was home. Not because she was with the Cullens or in Forks, because Bella was with her soul mate again. And she still loathed that, still hated the idea that she was predestined for him, that she had essentially been born to be with him. But right at that moment, she didn’t care. 

Lips pressed together, desperate to feel one against the other. Fingers flexed and clenched, hand shifting and arms tightening as though both she and Aro were trying to get a better grip on one another, perhaps go so far as to meld together so they wouldn’t have to endure a week of uncertainty like that again. If her eyes could cry, there would be tears streaming down her face out of sheer relief, and happiness, and knowing that at least now she wouldn’t have to be alone.

And then a column of rock started growing between them, pushing one another apart as it continued its accelerated climb toward the sky.

Aro had grabbed her hand, holding it tightly as they both watched this strange phenomenon with fascination.

She then heard a chuckle and looked to the balcony where someone she didn’t know smiled at them. 

“You two had been going at it for like five minutes. Thought I’d do something before you kissed until you petrified.” The stranger teased, and with a gesture of his hand, the rock column shrunk down to nothing more than a small stone. 

“ _Magnifico,”_ Aro said in awe, looking from the stone to the vampire on the balcony. “That was quite the feat. Though I must say I would have been more appreciative of the demonstration if it hadn’t disrupted the reunion with my mate.”

The vampire gave a cheeky grin. “As I said, five minutes.” He swung himself over the railing onto the ground and came to stand before them. “I’m Benjamin. My mate, Tia,” He said, gestured to a very beautiful woman standing beside Alice and two others up on the balcony.

“A pleasure, my talented friend. I’ve a feeling you already know me,” Aro suggested.

“You’re Aro, the man I was taught to hate. Though I admit you don’t seem quite as ruthless or heartless as Amun painted you to be.”

“Ah, Amun,” Aro said with a nod. “No, he would not exactly place me in my best light, would he?”

“You came with Carlisle?” Bella asked, and Benjamin turned to her with a smile.

“He painted a picture I couldn’t resist.” 

“Thank you,” Bella told him sincerely, reaching for Benjamin with her free hand and squeezing his arm. “It means a lot that you came despite what I’m guessing is your dad’s disapproval.”

Benjamin chuckled. “Amun was not a man I could consider my father. He was my creator and my captor. He was trying to have me harness my powers so I could be used as a weapon. It’s not something I wanted, but… Carlisle said you were looking for people to stand with you.”

She nodded. “I don’t know what we’ll be up against.” She said, glancing at Garrett, Edward, and Jacob as they moved from the car to the house. “And I wouldn’t blame you if you run. You didn’t want to be a weapon, and when I asked for those to stand with me, I did mean in a fight.”

“I know,” Benjamin assured. “But I wanted to hear from you what this fight was for.” He glanced at Aro and smiled. “Though I’m getting an idea already.”

Bella looked to her feet, the trees, but she smiled shyly all the same. “Yeah,” She managed. 

“I imagine the rest inside will want to hear it, too. But for now…” He gestured to the pair of them, then turned to walk away. “Remember what I said about petrifying.” He reminded before entering the house.

Bella turned to Aro and immediately found herself being pulled back toward him.

“You amazing, wonderful woman.” He said against her lips before kissing her fiercely. “To see you take charge,” he added on what might have been a breath, then pressing another deep kiss to her lips. “To see you even through another’s eyes be the ruler I knew you could be.”

“I did it for you,” She said, leaning just enough away that instead of Aro’s lips landing on hers, his teeth grazed them. “The Volturi is yours.”

“I know you did it for me,” he said, somehow pulling her closer. 

“If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened. If you never met me-”

“No, _mia amata_ ,” Aro shook his head, the very tips of their noses brushing softly. “No, I’m afraid this was a long time coming. Marcus shared with me some information that allows me to know that Caius was merely waiting for an opportunity.”

“When?” She asked, pulling back a little more. “When did he tell you?”

Aro looked positively guilty. “The night Irina died.”

“What?” Bella asked wide-eyed.

“He’d asked me not to say a thing to you,” He rushed to assure, shifting his grip on her as if he was afraid she’d pull away. 

But it had been a week of not knowing if he was still alive. A week of not knowing if all she would ever have of him was a year and a bit, with at least a third of that being fuzzy human memories. Bella wasn’t going anywhere even if whatever he was about to say was going to piss her off.

“He showed me.” He started.

Bella frowned. “You touched him?”

Aro nodded, “for the first time in a millennium, yes. And what he showed me was that, while my words were the basis for the action, Marcus had come to learn that it was Caius who was ultimately responsible for Didyme.”

Bella stared at him for a long time, seeing the pain-filled sincerity in his features.

“Why didn’t you rip his head off that night, then?” She asked, knowing that that was exactly what she would have done if she’d known.

It stirred up a very desirable image of her ripping Caius apart, limb by limb, tossing each one into a fire and leaving his head for last so he could watch himself slowly burn to death.

“Marcus asked me not to,” Aro said gently. “He asked I forgive Caius as he had learned to and that I not tell you as he hoped that the pair of you would grow to like one another eventually.”

“How could he forgive him?” She demanded. “How could Marcus not just destroyed him?”

“I had wondered that myself,” Aro confessed. “And now with what happened to our dear brother, I’ll have no compunction tearing him to shreds. But Marcus worried about the balance within the Volturi.”

She shook her head, muscles tensing with frustration. She was also a little angry with Marcus for being so damn good-hearted, for allowing the murderer of his wife to sit on the throne just one over for his for thousands of years while continuously falling into a deep depression. 

Aro ran his hand over her back in a soothing motion, and her eyes snapped to his. 

“We shall avenge them both,” Aro assured her. “And when all is done-”

“I don’t want to rule with you.” She told him before he could even suggest it. “I don’t want the throne, even now.”

He smirked, eyes crinkling with amusement. “And yet, you were willing to go to war for it even if I was dead.”

“Because it was _yours_. Your throne, your legacy. You and Marcus and Didyme were the original Volturi, Caius just came after. I was going to fight to get it out of his hands, and then if I won I was going to put the roles of leadership in more capable hands.”

“Such as whose, dare I ask?”

She shrugged. “Someone everyone could agree on. Or, three someones. Someone who actually wanted it.”

“You bring up an intriguing idea, _mia amata_ ,” He said, “perhaps it is something you could assist me with. Finding co-ruler or two should we come out of this the victor.”

She nodded, then placed a delicate kiss on his lips, simply relishing the pleasure of knowing he was still as alive as he ever was, and that he was there with her.

The door to the house opened.

“I could make the earth crack open if it would help to keep your hands off each other,” Benjamin called, and someone chided him before the door was shut again.

“It’s probably for the best we are not to find any privacy here,” Aro said with a lasvicious smirk. “After the behavior I witnessed through Demetri’s mind, it would be rather hard to keep me from worshiping you as a queen should be.”

“Shut up,” She said, kissing him quickly once more before stepping back while still holding on to one hand. “Let’s see who came for us.”

  
~AB~

Sulpicia approached them as soon as they entered, and Aro found himself a bit apprehensive of this first meeting.

“You’re not at all as I pictured you,” Sulpicia said to Bella with a smile as she stood before her. 

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Bella said shyly, her eyes darting over Sulpicia.

Aro knew what she was doing, what she always did: she was comparing. Not that she should, but knew his mate. To her, Sulpicia would be every inch the goddess so many mortals mistook her for in the early days. To Aro, his ex-wife was a vision, but not compared to Bella. Perhaps it was the ties of their bond or merely a bias grown from his love of her, but he would argue the point relentlessly if it was ever brought up.

Sulpicia reached for Bella’s hands and took them in her own, smiling as kindly as Sulpicia ever did.

“Merely that, while I knew you would be young, I hadn’t expected you to be as youthful as you are. Especially as you took the initiative to find me, and offered for us to come here. A lesser woman wouldn’t have.”

“Ah, so you’re the reason she’s here, then,” Aro said to Bella who looked at him askance.

“You left a note that said you were visiting a friend in Greece. If you can go off and see your ex-wife for hours and only leaving a slip of paper with _that_ on it, then I can find a way to call her and make sure she’s alright. And ask if maybe she would help.”

“You left her a note?” Sulpicia smacked his arm, scowling at him before turning to Bella. “Make absolutely no mistake, whatever he says, _he’s_ the reason I didn’t remarry to a man.”

“And I believe you were the reason I had spent a decade with Armand after our separation,” Aro retorted with venom coated grin.

“Hi guys,” Calliope skipped toward them, all bright smiles until she spotted Bella. “Oh, you must be his mate! It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She darted forward, wrapping Bella in a hug. 

Bella’s eyes went wide and her arms flailed a moment before she managed an awkward hug.

“My wife,” Sulpicia introduced. “Calliope is quite friendly.”

“Umm, hi,” Bella said, and Aro couldn’t help but giggle at her uncertainty. 

Calliope backed away, clasping her hands in front of herself and smiling proudly. She glanced up at Sulpicia, who tried her very best to not seem amused, and kissed the former queen’s cheek.

Sulpicia gave a put upon sigh with a pleased smile before she turned to Bella. 

“I would love to talk to you more another time, but I’m willing to bet that the people here are eagerly awaiting an idea of what’s to happen.”

Aro turned to look about the room, seeing the numerous vampires gathered there, all looking between him and each other, clearly waiting for something.

Some faces he knew. The Cullens, of course, were a given. Julie was a pleasant surprise, she and her coven mingled with that of the Siobhan. Some he didn’t know, like the pair with Jasper off to the side. Benjamin and his mate had only recently been introduced, so still rather new, and Garrett he had only known through the memories of Carlisle and the others. 

It was a small gathering overall, and he knew Caius could probably drum up a similar if not larger number. But these were people who at least had an idea of what they were gathering for, and that was enough for Aro to hope they would stand with he and Bella now that his presence confirmed he was alive.

He moved to the center of the room and smiled.

“My friends,” He started, “I’m truly pleased to see you all have come here. If not for me, then at least for Isabella. 

“The Volturi ruled over our kind for thousands of years, and within the last week, one of the three has killed one, and tried to kill another. I ask you to help me put an end to his reign before it can stretch too long.”

“So you can take his place?” Garrett asked with a smirk.

Aro met his eye. “I’m still a leader of the Volturi. Or as Bella had put it, the only rightful leader. Yes, I would be taking the throne again.”

Garrett looked uneasy. Most of them did, with the uncertainty in their glances. Not precisely what he had hoped for, but admittedly not unexpected either.

“I’ll ask you this,” Sulpicia spoke up, moving to stand beside him. “Had the Cullens not gone to you, asked you to come, would you have known what happened it Volterra as of yet? Likely not. But you will have.

“Do you think that you’d have been safe from the most minor infraction. Or worse, the most minor accusation?” She looked to Garrett. “Say you crossed paths with a nomad like yourself who didn’t particularly like you. Maybe your sense of style, or merely the way you spoke, it doesn’t matter. Under Caius’ rule of the Volturi, of our kind, that nomad could go to him and say whatever he liked and your head would be his. It really doesn’t matter the reason. You could be accused of exposing us. You created an immortal child. You consorted with werewolves.”

“We are now,” Siobhan said as she eyed Jacob over with apprehension and disdain.

“Ah, yes,” Aro acknowledged, giving a grin to Jacob as the young man rolled his eyes. “I Can attest from experience that our friend here, as well as his pack, are not the Children of the Moon Caius would so eagerly hunt down.”

“And Aro lied to him,” Bella spoke up, moving to his right, standing on the opposite side of Sulpicia. “He lied to Caius to protect the Quileute tribe. Jacob has been my friend my whole life, and Aro lied when someone declared werewolves to be in the area here.”

“He spared me,” Bree said meekly, clinging to Jacob as everyone turned to her.

Jacob put an arm around her in comfort, and Aro could see the strange relationship he’d heard of in Edward’s mind all those months ago had certainly grown.

“I was created as a newborn to fight the Cullens,” Bree explained, “When I surrendered to Carlisle and Esme, Aro let me live. Others that came later were ready to destroy me.”

“Jane,” Carlisle clarified. “Jane as well as some other guard arrived unexpectedly. Jane wanted Bree executed simply for the circumstances of her creation. Aro granted her life.”

“He let me stay with my family,” Julie said, Matt and Dominique smiling affectionately at her, the latter rubbing her arm in a soothing, supportive way. “And I could see it’s not what he wanted. What he wanted was to kill them and take me. But he didn’t. He’s wanted to kill many others in the past for the same reason, and he has. He’s twisted things to make them go his way. But it hasn’t happened for a very long time, probably about four or five hundred years. Even when he wanted to, unless there was a real reason to destroy, he didn’t.”

“How do you know?” Edward asked curiously.

“Julie is a remarkable vampire,” Aro replied, pleased to see that Julie preened at the praise. Edward seemed to understand, so for the rest of those present, Aro explained. “Any of those gifted among you, should you touch her, will temporarily allow her to have the same talents as you. If she were to touch Edward, for instance, she could hear all the thoughts of everyone here but Bella. Should she touch her, she’d be immune to all of those gifts that affect the mind.”

“You’re gifted?” Garrett said in disbelief. 

Bella smirked, “It’s not why he chose me.” She countered what he was likely thinking.

Edward snickered. 

“She’s telling the truth,” Edward told Garrett.

“I’d like him to say it.” The small one from the Irish coven, Maggie, said with a defiant tilt of her chin as she crossed her arms. “So far not one of you has been lyin’. But I still wanna hear it’ from ‘im.” 

Aro smiled. “I do so love your gift, my dear, it’s fascinating. No, I did not choose Bella as my mate because I knew she would be a gifted vampire. I suppose you could say I never chose her at all, but I’m certainly not disappointed.” 

Maggie narrowed her eyes and nodded once.

“Alright,” Garrett said as if this whole thing was purposely orchestrated to pain him. “What makes _you_ special, then?”

“I know when people are lyin’.” Maggie retorted. 

“And you didn’t try and scoop her up?” Garrett asked Aro with his eyebrows raised.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” Aro half-quipped in reply, “But, I rather disliked the idea of having someone so vocal about when another isn’t completely honest around us.”

“And why’s that?” Garrett countered.

“Possibly because I disliked the idea of having my own lies announced.”

Maggie frowned, eyes narrowed, and Aro quietly cursed himself.

“That’s a half-truth.” She stated.

Aro growled quietly in annoyance. “I may have disliked hearing someone else knowing when platitudes were lies as well.” He grit out. 

Maggie seemed more satisfied with that answer, at least, and in turn, so did Garrett.

“What were you thinking of doing, Bella?” Benjamin asked, and Bella turned toward him as he smiled. “We all came here originally for you. So, what was _your_ plan?”

She looked to Aro, her lower lip caught in her teeth. He smiled back, reached for her hand, squeezing it.

“It’s alright, _mia amata._ ”

She nodded. “I’m sure you heard me explain this to Aro outside, but if you didn’t, the simple answer was I was going to get the Volturi back from Caius. With a fight, probably. Somewhere neutral. And if we won, and if Aro wasn’t with me… I’d have put it a vote. Who ruled. Three people, three that we who fought could agree on. I know I would have nominated Sulpicia as one,” She said as she looked to Aro’s former wife with a grin.

“Why on earth would you say that aloud?” Aro grumbled as Sulpicia beamed.

“You’d give up your right to his spot for me?” Sulpicia asked.

“It was never what I wanted out of a relationship with him,” Bella said with a shake of her head while squeezing Aro’s hand. “You would have at least wanted the job, and you would know more about ruling than I would.”

“Wait,” Garrett smirked. “Was the American wife of an Italian ‘king’ going to suggest democracy?”

“I’m not his wife,” Bella grumbled as Aro said, “It would have been her right as a queen.”

“And yes,” Bella said. “I would have suggested democracy, especially given that the way the Volturi original ruling body was set was because they were the three that led the fight against the Romanians. That wasn’t likely going to be the case. And, I figured if you were all willing to help me, any of you would probably be a good fit. So… a vote.”

“Except now, we’re just fighting for one guy to sit on a throne.” Garrett pointed out.

“You really don’t like me much, do you, my revolutionary friend?” Aro asked, meeting the vampire’s eyes.

Garrett shrugged. “Never been much of a fan of the red coats.”

“No, I imagine you aren’t. I suppose it’s a good thing, then, that I always preferred black.”

“Still fighting for one guy who didn’t do a damn thing to earn his spot.”

“That’s a lie.” Maggie pointed out, sounding quite intrigued by the idea.

“It’s more of an opinion.” Garrett countered.

“What if we fought for both,” Edward suggested, much to the surprise of many. He looked to Bella and grinned. “We discussed this passing the time while Jacob was asleep. Bella’s right, we have a lot of vampires here who would make a good candidate for overseeing things. Aro’s hardly my favorite person in the world, but he’s a good leader when he’s not a tyrant.”

"And you really don’t think all their laws weren’t just a way for them to have control over our world?” Garrett countered.

“It’s not,” Aro replied, and Maggie shot him a look. “Not entirely,” He amended. “Most of you were created long after the Romanians had been in power. We did want control, we wanted to ensure the survival of our kind.”

“Aren’t you the same guy who would wipe out covens who opposed you? Kept the gifted for yourselves? Found innocence or remorse in them?” Garrett challenged. “Julie over there already said as much, but you’re over there going on about the survival of our kind, yet how many vampires have you burned? And how many of _those_ were just to get what you wanted?”

Aro held his gaze for a long moment, then smiled.

“It’s how I had gained a few of my more talented friends that way, yes,” Aro said, shrugging. “But allow me to pose the question to you. If you came across a group of soldiers, and one was particularly skilled, would you not do what you could to have those skills on your side?”

“Not if I had to kill the other soldiers to do it.”

“But you have, haven’t you? As a human as well as a vampire. You manage to mingle yourself among them without drawing suspicion, and not all the human’s you’ve killed have been for food.” Aro countered. “One would argue you were being wasteful.”

“I was just fighting for freedom.” Garrett countered.

“And what do you believe I did against the Romanians? What do you believe I’m doing now? You’ve heard from two very gift vampires that I allowed them to leave with their coven. You sit here in the Cullen household where not one, but three gifted vampires have resided - two of which were in my home, rip for the picking as it were - and yet they still remain with their chosen covens.”

“And yet, Bella is gifted.” Garrett pointed out.

“And she is also my mate,” Aro replied. “The one person whose mind I have never seen. Who can not and has not been swayed or forcefully bound to me. 

“If you’re looking for a saint to lead you, I’m afraid you’ll not find one. Simply look to the many varied politicians around the world, and you’ll see that all of them are liars who go against their promises. Monarchs are much the same. I’ve never once claimed to be even a little bit of a good man. I have my moments, I like to think I’ve had more of them since meeting Isabella. But as Julie said, I still wanted to take her for myself. I still have that desire, as a leader, to keep the powerful at my side by any means necessary.”

Garrett pursed his lips and nodded. “Fair enough.” He agreed. “You all made some valid points. I’ll never like the idea of you on the throne, though.”

“It’s not in your nature.” Aro acknowledged. “But I would be open to sharing my reign with those you would want in power.”

“Maybe we can worry more about who will be in charge after we figure out what to do.” Emmett voiced, looking around at everyone. “I mean, we’re all here, but we still gotta figure out how we’re going to get to Caius.”

Aro pursed his lips, considered.

“You can’t all stay here,” Jacob voiced, meeting Aro’s eye when he glanced the wolf’s way. “There’s already a lot more vampires than wolves here, which means if you all stay, more of the tribe’s youth will turn. And they’ll turn younger, be more difficult to control.”

“Then perhaps we should call our friends in Denali, tell them to perhaps stay where they are, for the time being, we’ll go to them,” Aro said this to Carlisle who nodded in agreement.

“Those of the pack already turned will go with you,” Jacob said confidently. “They’re not exactly fans of any of you, but the idea of fighting _some_ vampires is just too good for them to resist.”

“Are there still the eleven of you that there were?” Aro asked, ignoring the murmur of confusion from those present who were not familiar with the pack.

“There’s been two more since you were here last. Hopefully not much more. But those that are too young won’t come with us, I’ll keep to the original eleven if I need to.” Jacob said with a nod.

“I’m sorry,” Bella said, “I shouldn’t have assumed-”

“You’re my friend,” Jacob said firmly. “And so it Bree. I may not like what you are, and I might not approve of how you lived before here. But this is important. And I would like to imagine my kids may one day be able to skip the whole wolf thing. I doubt that can happen if we let this asshole around. That’s not even counting his whole ‘kill all wolves’ thing.”

An idea lit in Aro’s mind at Jacob’s words, nothing concrete but an outline of something that could be put in place should they be successful.

“You would do that?” Edward asked, and Aro rolled his eyes before looking to Edward.

“It’s really annoying, isn’t it?” Bree asked before Aro could scold the boy for asking a question over something within Aro’s mind aloud in front of everyone. “That he just talks to you like you actually spoke.”

“All you think about is Jacob, deer, and school. Forgive me if I didn’t think any of those topics were ever private.” Edward said sarcastically as his sister crossed her arms and glared.

“It doesn’t matter if they aren’t. If I wanted to talk to you, I would have.”

“Bree, Edward, enough.” Esme scolded, sighing in exasperation when the two teenagers sneered at one another before looking away from each other.

“Alaska it is, then,” Aro said. “I believe those that intend to travel on foot could make their way there after the sun has set.”

“I still don’t know how to fight,” Bella noted uneasily. 

“You were fairing pretty well on your own,” Garrett said with a grin.

Aro looked at him and held out his hand. “I don’t suppose you’d care to show me?”

Garrett eyed it suspiciously, squirming a moment before slowly raising his hand.

“You should see it through Edward’s eyes.” Jacob offered before Garrett could make contact with Aro’s skin. “He was with her the entire time she interacted with the thugs. And Yankee doodle there was busy with a pair of them.”

Aro narrowed his eyes at Jacob, seeing the boy had the very faintest hint of a smile on his lips. A glance at Edward revealed he was glaring at Jacob. 

Bree seemed very keen to remain neutral, but Aro knew the look of someone who was rather pleased with the turn of events. He’d seen it on enough faces in his throne room over the millennia for it to be anything else.

Jacob, for whatever reason, saw fit to suggest Edward as revenge for what had occurred to… not his mate, Aro didn’t think that was possible between their kinds, but maybe something almost there. He and Bree were rather closer than one would expect.

Aro turned to the young Cullen man, his hand out. “Edward?” He asked. 

Edward hesitated. 

“I’ll let you keep your secrets,” Garrett told the young Cullen. “But you’ll owe me.” He said flatly before meeting Aro’s eye and slapping his hand in his.

Garrett wasn’t a terribly old vampire, but he had wisdom beyond his centuries. He may have vocally been against the Volturi as an idea and a whole, but he appreciated the structure of the laws. He understood the need for order, and for punishing offenders.

He had come quite close to having his fill of a few disliked American army men and certainly enjoyed draining those who were quite vocal about their less than consensual exploits.

“My, my. I do like the way you handle things.” Aro said, finding a rather new appreciation for the gentleman who loathed him. 

He went through the rest of the years, all fairly mundane. Garrett avoided trouble and seemed to have the good sense to move on before he could be roped into any of it. A very quiet life, really, going up and down the eastern seaboard. Moving with the times, attempting to keep up as best as possible unlike some of the nomads Aro had encountered.

Then he came to a night nearly a year ago.

“You’re the vampire Isabella spoke of,” Aro said, feeling venom begin to line his mouth, his jaw starting to clench up.

“You talked about me?” Garrett asked with a smirk, his eyes not leaving Aro’s.

“Said you were smart enough not to make me a meal,” Bella replied.

That reigned Aro in, remembering that Bella had lived to tell the tale and that this vampire had done the smart thing and backed down. Garrett, too, realized he’d been smart, and thought an apology toward Aro that echoed over the viewed memories.

Aro nodded, coming to the night only a few days ago. He observed what he could of Bella who had been in Garrett’s peripheral view.

“I know those vampires you encountered.” He said as he let go of Garrett’s hand. “The ones who had been searching for Isabella. They are… not proxies, that would be too kind. One might call them a scout. Unlike a tracker, they can’t find someone easily anywhere on the planet and chase after them. But those two were clever and very good at figuring out clues as to where someone may have taken off to. Oddly, they were originally placed here by Caius to ensure there were no Children of the Moon running about.”

“They’re gone now,” Garrett said as he flexed his hand.

“Indeed,” Aro said thoughtfully before turning to Bella. “You weren’t as bad as you think, _mia amata_ , but you are running more on instincts than skill. And your newborn strength _is_ waning, you won’t be as lucky next time.”

“She’s a newborn?” Siobhan asked, eyebrows high.

Bella smiled and nodded. “I’m almost at the end of my first year.” She explained.

“We can teach those who need it the proper way to fight when we get to Alaska,” Carlisle said, glancing around at the vampires gathered. “Here, there are wooded areas and not a lot of clear space. Alaska will be better for that.” He turned to Aro. “You said I should be expecting a patient?”

Aro nodded. “A half-vampire Felix and I re-encountered in Russia. His injuries were from bites from the very creatures Caius had hunted. I could never get his bleeding to stop, and blood only gave him strength for small periods of time.”

“A half-vampire?” Alice asked with a frown. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Nearly all those there shook their heads, glancing at one another to see if someone else did.

“They’re very rare and extremely taboo,” Aro told them. “To be around one is uncomfortable unless you are familiar with them. They smell human, in that you can smell the blood in their veins. They look human and have a metabolism. But they also have venom, as well as our rather sharp teeth and hard skin. Our speed, though not our grace. They are mortal.”

“And you met him in Russia?” Alice asked.

“We originally met when Jack was but a few months old.” Aro corrected, recalling the small boy.

“He was that large at four months?” Edward asked, and Aro glanced at him, thinking of the boy they found in the mountains. “That’s a year? He looks to be nearly a teenager.”

“You don’t want to know anything more about them,” Bella said before Aro could explain. “Trust me, it’s really better that you don’t know.”

Aro smirked at his lover, then sobered to speak to Carlisle. “Demetri and Felix are bringing him here. I would ask if there’s a way to possibly heal him, that he could find shelter here instead of making the journey back to Alaska. As Edward said, he’s but a year old, and he’ll never have a second life.”

Carlisle nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Should we begin our journey north?” Siobhan asked, glancing at the other two coven leaders.

Carlisle and Aro exchanged a glance. 

“I’ll let the Denalis know they’re coming. But those who want to go should head that way.” Carlisle agreed.

“We shall, then,” Liam said, glancing at Siobhan and having her nod.

“We’ll lead the way,” Emmett offered. “Rose and I can get the first group there.”

“We’ll go with you,” Dominque nodded. “I’m afraid we’ll want to hunt soon. I don’t want to have to worry about breaking any rules.”

“We’ll get what we need and head out,” Rosalie said, exuding a gentle kindness Aro hadn’t known she was capable of.

“We’ll head out as well,” Sulpicia said, turning to Aro and touching his upper arm. “But Heidi.”

“Heidi’s here?” Bella asked eagerly.

“Yes, my dear, she’s upstairs,” Sulpicia said, and Bella disappeared. A door quietly opened then closed somewhere above, muffling their voices.

Aro looked to his ex-wife. “I have to know.” He told her. “I have to know what events could have started this. I hadn’t been away more than a day, Isabella only a few more than that. I have to know.” 

Sulpicia sighed and shook her head. “I can’t stop you.” She confessed. “But if she is worse off after you finish with her.”

“She won’t be,” Aro promised.

Sulpicia nodded, squeezing his arm before taking Calliope’s hand and following the others out on the balcony.

~AB~

She found her in the library, and for a moment Bella couldn’t move. 

Heidi looked back at her, a weak smile on her lips. 

“I know,” She said, her voice like someone with a very who had been fighting a cold, their voice lost. Like there was something in her throat to make it sound gravelly as well. 

Her neck looked like it had been chipped away in pieces, not the smooth porcelain it should have been. A good chunk of her hair was gone, too, and Bella could only imagine someone had grabbed a hold of it, ripping it from her head as she managed to get away. Her face was also riddled with bite marks, making her cheeks look pocked.

In a moment, Bella was across the room and had her arms wrapped tightly around Heidi. 

“I’m just so glad you made it out.” She said. “Really, I didn’t know, didn’t even think you could have until I heard you on the line when I talked to Sulpicia.”

Heidi gave a mirthless laugh. “I didn’t want to be alive. I still don’t know if I do. Look at me.” She said as she pulled back, gesturing at herself. 

“I see a survivor.” Aro’s voice came from the doorway, heralding his arrival. He joined them a moment later, smiling sympathetically but admirably at Heidi. “I’m glad to see you here among us.”

“So you would live like this?” Heidi asked him, gesturing to her roughened neck.

“I’d probably wear a scarf,” Aro said with a shrug, and Bella smacked him on the chest, giving him a glare. He met her eye, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Heidi at least had one too, touching her neck as though she were considering the suggestion.

She then gave Aro her full attention. “I didn’t see a lot,” She told him, holding out her hand and squaring her shoulders. “But you should know what I did.”

Aro took Heidi’s hand very gently, almost as if he thought his touch might shatter her. Bella watched them, seeing Heidi’s eyes glitter with unshed venom, looking at Aro who had closed his eyes as if to better take it in.

After a moment, his eyes opened, and brought Heidi’s hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. 

“ _Sei una bella donna coraggiosa.**_ ” He said to her. “There’s nothing I can do to thank you for defying him. I can only express my gratitude.”

“There’s one thing you can do for me,” Heidi said. “Kill the bastard. And burn Santiago while you’re at it, too. I had thought we were friends. Turns out we weren’t. I want him to pay.”

“Consider it done,” he promised, “I’m assuming you heard our plans?” He asked, and Heidi nodded. “I imagine you will be staying here, then?”

“I can’t fight.” She shook her head.

Bella put her hand on Heidi’s arm. “Are you able to hunt? Drink?” she asked.

“Yes,” Heidi nodded, “Though it does hurt to drink. Swallowing. Hunting isn’t any more difficult than it used to be, at least. I’d be able to head into the area we’re allowed in here.”

“It may not be safe for you to stay here long,” Aro warned her. “There were people out searching for Isabella, and I doubt Caius will remain content to wait any more than a day or two. As it’s stands, it’s already been a week since he decided to take over. If he does not receive word all who would oppose it are taken care of, he may start pursuing us himself.”

“If he comes, so be it,” Heidi said with a shrug. “I only kept running because I was hoping I’d find you. I did.”

Aro nodded, “Then allow me to say once more that if there is anything more I can do for you, name it. And if not, know that I am quite thankful for the insight.” Then, after turning to Bella and placing a kiss on her cheek, Aro said, “I’ll be downstairs explaining to Carlisle what I know of Jack so he’s better prepared. Please find me when you’re ready.”

“I will,” She promised, kissing his cheek before letting him walk away. 

Bella watched him leave, telling the voice in her soul to shut up as it screamed not to let him go out of her sight. Not now, not after everything that’s already happened.

“Hold on to what you have with him,” Heidi said, drawing Bella’s attention once more. Her eyes had a wistful quality as they stared through the door Aro left in. “I never really gave much thought to finding my mate. Now I wish had.”

Bella didn’t know what if anything she could say to her friend that might be supportive or comforting. So, instead of trying and possibly stumbling over words and phrases, Bella reached for Heidi and held her once more.

She said nothing as the figure in her arms shook violently with quiet, tearless sobs, and didn’t let go until Heidi finally stilled.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **You brave, beautiful woman
> 
> I want to say "Sorry" to the early readers of the last chapter. I forgot to put the translations at the bottom.  
> And as always, I want to thank you for reading this. Next chapter we have a big moment for our central couple, and a few more lighter bits.  
> Until then!


	36. Chapter 36

_A scream heard from the direction of the throne room._

_Santiago had been flirting with Heidi, as was their way, but that scream sent them running. It was strangely unfamiliar which is what had pulled Heidi away._

_The scene they arrived at was of a very distraught Corin, the never seen Athenodora mildly upset, and the headless body of Chelsea on the floor of the throne room. Marcus was a statue on his throne, a smile set forever on his face._

_Heidi hadn’t known what to think. She thought at first that somehow Chelsea had petrified Marcus, or Caius had blamed her. But it didn’t make sense._

_“Master?” Santiago said, and Heidi glanced at him in confusion._

_She’d felt absolutely no compulsion to call Caius that. And then she had realized she didn’t think of_ Marcus _as master either. Because Chelsea was dead. Loyalty to the Volturi was very optional._

_“Yes, Master,” Caius said thoughtfully, a smile twisting his features. “You still are loyal to me, aren’t you? How interesting.”_

_“What’s going on?” Heidi asked, and regretted it the moment Caius turned that smile on her._

_He went to Aro’s throne, removing the agate plaque circle that sat over top of it, then tossed it at Marcus. The head smashed, leaving nothing both stone dust and rubble in its place._

_“I would say it’s obvious,” Caius said before turning to Santiago. “Call Felix, tell him that Aro should find himself in a rather unfortunate accident while he’s dealing with the break in the law.”_

Oh shit _, Heidi thought, eyes going wide as she glanced at Santiago, hoping to find someone just as baffled by all this as her. But he was already on his phone, calling Felix._

_Heidi looked back at Caius and watched with a sick feeling of dread as he took a seat on Aro’s throne._

_“I would suggest, Heidi, that you ensure that Isabella remains with the Cullens. I’ll not tolerate a vampire not following their natural way. It’s weak. I’ll see to removing the bad apples from our own coven than send someone to take care of those among the rest. Starting with that family.” He said the last disdainfully. “She’ll be easier to dispatch while among them.”_

_Heidi’s visceral reaction was to say no. Abso-fucking-lutely not. But Caius had that look on his face, the one he got during mass executions when he was beyond pleased with himself. The guard, or at least a few of them, frequently thought he got more pleasure from those than any time spent with his mate, but no one ever said anything._

_So she nodded, bowed her head, and then walked out of the throne room. She didn’t start to run until she was clear of the door, but it didn’t help. She’d barely gotten ahold of Demetri to say what happened, and then Santiago was on her._

Aro had replayed that specific part of Heidi’s memories on a loop as he watched the sunset through the trees on the Cullen’s balcony.

On one hand, it had been an utter relief to know that Caius hadn’t purposely murdered their brother for this little coup to have happened. 

Though it did leave the question as to what caused Marcus to petrify. Aro couldn’t remember if he had drunk at all the last two meals as Aro had decided not to partake. He’d gone hunting with Isabella. She, Demetri, and Felix. She’d jokingly called it a double date later when they were alone in their chambers.

Regardless, though, that was the actual cause of his final death. Caius merely seized the opportunity. Aro supposed he’d always had it in him to do it, seize control, but he didn’t think Caius actually would. The death of Chelsea made it all the more confusing because hers had not been an accident.

Aro sighed, because it was the only thing he could do with his frustration, and rubbed at his face.

Bella was still upstairs with Heidi, and despite how much he wanted her just then, Heidi likely needed her more. 

Sulpicia had left earlier with Calliope, the Swedish and Irish covens as well, either riding with Rosalie or following behind her in one of the Cullens’ many vehicles. Garrett had run off for a hunt with Benjamin and Tia, the Egyptian vampires a touch out of practice as Amun had refused to really allow them out of his sight.

Jacob had returned to his home, to meet with his pack to keep them informed as to who was an ally, the plan, and to ensure no one new had joined them with the influx of vampires around.

The Cullens had left Aro alone to ruminate since before the sun went down, which was fine he supposed. But dammit all, he wanted Isabella. He wanted to hold her, touch her, know she was alright still. The last week had been fraught with uncertainty, and he was thankful he couldn’t dream because he was sure there would have been a vast number of nightmares where it wouldn’t be Marcus in that state, but her. 

The patio door slid open, and Aro lamented the presence that came to stand beside him.

“There’s nothing in the memory that would give you anything,” Edward said as he leaned on the railing. “Heidi didn’t see enough, only the aftermath.”

“I’m quite aware,” Aro said as kindly as he could. He looked to the young Cullen, taking in his placid expression but knowing there was a torrent of emotion beneath it. “I must thank you for your assistance earlier. I believe your words of support, as well as voicing your favor of combining Bella’s idea as well as my rightful claim as the future of the Volturi is what had the more uncertain decide to join the fight.”

Edward grimaced. “You have nothing to thank me for.” He said emphatically, and Aro’s lips twitched into a smile before he pursed them.

He looked out at the trees, studying them for a moment. “You do know that the problem with being in one’s mind is that there really isn’t such thing as a secret kept,” Aro told the young mind reader. “You yourself get surface whispers, the here and the now. I get every thought, every moment glimpsed. Shall I tell you what Garrett witnessed? What he suspects of you?”

“You don’t need to,” Edward said, looking at his hands. “I hear it in your mind. And despite what you think, I’m on your side in all this.”

“Come now, Edward, let’s not lie to one another now.”

“Fine,” Edward relented. “I’m on Bella’s side.”

Aro hummed his understanding. “So I can assume Garrett’s assumptions are correct?”

“What difference would it make?” Edward frowned, shaking his head slightly. “You’re alive.”

“But you were really hoping I wasn’t, weren’t you?” Aro pointed out not unkindly. “You were hoping that Demetri would come back with only Felix, and they would break poor Bella’s heart with the news of my demise. And you would be there. To hold her. To pick up the pieces. To give her a half-love like Victoria with Riley. Not her mate, never her mate, but a fine replacement until the day you stumbled upon your own.”

“I never hoped you were dead.” Edward corrected. “But I assumed when Alice couldn’t see you after Russia - when she could only ever see faint shadows and snips of the battle to come - that you weren’t coming back. And Bella… I had thought maybe she would know. Some sort of instinct.”

“There’s an emptiness.” Aro nodded. “I’ve seen it in so many that have lost their mates. Most are like Victoria and are set on revenge. They’ll never be happy until the one responsible is ash. Some live half-lives, like Marcus. Some carry on in a sort of numbed state. Some become incubus, and succubus, or merely take on a very large number of vampire lovers in hopes to feel even an inkling of what it’s like to be with a mate. And there are more than you can imagine that showed up at our feet and begged for death.” Aro glanced at Edward then. “So you can imagine what it might have been like for me to look into the eyes of the woman you were ready to die for -as it was the only hope you thought you’d have to be with her- and find my mate after thousands of years.”

“You didn’t know that she wasn’t mine?” Edward asked. 

“I had wondered, which is why I offered you a place among us. Not simply for your gifts, though they were a rather large factor. But Marcus especially had wondered if you merely needed time to grieve. A distraction from your family, those who knew her, until enough time had passed and the young human you were infatuated with would have been no more than a memory anyway. But you were rather obsessive, it was hard to see past.”

Edward snickered mirthlessly, looking to his feet before he let his eyes wander about the tree line.

“I tried to move on,” Edward confessed. “I met so many vampires while I was away. I couldn’t stay in London long and ended up being a sort of nomad who hunted animals. And I met some great vampires and even encountered a few humans who may have been interesting. But they weren’t her. Which was probably the problem, because I kept trying to make comparisons. I want to have someone, but I want her. I know it won’t happen, so it makes it feel like maybe I’m never going to find the one who I’m meant to be with.”

Aro sighed. “It took your brother Jasper a hundred years to find Alice. Carlisle, nearly four hundred years to encounter Esme. And I was nearing four thousand before Isabella looked into my eyes for the first time.” He put a hand on Edward’s arm, startling the young man though he didn’t pull away. “I can’t say I understand your desire for purity, we’re of time periods far too different for me to comprehend it. But you found a sort of companionship that wasn’t platonic or familial with Isabella before you left her behind. Be more open-minded, and you may find it again. Believe me when I say that if you rejected every possible being of interest simply because of the thoughts in their mind, you would live a very lonely life. Half my lovers have loathed me at times, it’s the price of our gift.”

Edward was about to argue something, Aro was positive, but the sound of familiar footsteps halted the conversation. 

They both turned to face Bella as she came through the patio door, and went right to Aro’s side.

She wrapped her arms around him from the side and pressed her face against his chest, her eyes closed. “I’m worried for Heidi.” She said quietly. “I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t want her to suffer.”

“I won’t attempt to ease your worries with lies,” Aro responded, looping his arm around her waist. “But I will say that as of now her will to live outweighs her desire to die. Only time will tell if that will change.”

Bella nodded, then looked up to meet his eyes. 

Hers was a touch too orange, not the normal rubies he had grown used to. But they still looked at him the same way they had for the last year, and he was overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her.

“Can we, maybe… I wanted to spend some time with you. Alone.” She said nervously before he could steal what he desired. She sounded as if she genuinely thought he’d say no.

Time alone? With her? After that short but agonizingly long time apart and worrying for one another? He could already feel the venom in his mouth beginning to secrete.

“Can you go at least a mile out, maybe two to be safe.” Edward requested in a choked tone. “I don’t want to hear anything. Thoughts or otherwise.”

Aro smirked, and merely because he couldn’t help it, he remembered the expression Bella had while pressed against a brick wall from one of their hunts in Italy that ended on a more passionate note. Edward shot him a glare but said nothing.

Bella took Aro’s hand as she stepped away from him, then as one they turned and jumped off the balcony and took off into the night.

They ran through the woods, looping around trees, jumping a river together, nearing a cliffside. He only had to look over at his mate and see her mischievous grin to know to prepare himself. A moment later, she jumped at him, and he only barely caught her before they tumbled over the ground and stone, kicking up dirt and long-dead leaves among the twigs. Bella’s laugh filled the air, bright and beautiful and free. He couldn’t help but join her, especially after he had her pinned beneath him on a smooth sheet of stone.

“You wanted time alone?” He asked with a grin.

She sobered, then shot up, grabbing his head and holding it between her hands as she kissed him, soft and gentle. It was a contrast to her movements that had Aro a bit baffled but still pleased. 

She pulled slowly away, her orange-tinted eyes darting about his face as she started to gently trace his jawline, run her fingers along his hair.

“I don’t want to lose you.” She said.

“Nor I you, mia amata.” He assured. “And much as I want to say you never will, for I will never leave you, we both know what’s to come.”

“I do.” She nodded slightly, her throat working as if she had to swallow. “But for a whole week, I didn’t know if I already had. I didn’t have any idea if you were dead or alive and it killed me.”

“Oh,” Aro cooed. “Bella, you’d have known.” He placed a hand on her sternum. “Here, you would have felt it here. You already have an idea of what it would be like, from what you’ve said of your time removed from our world while human, anyway. You’d have carried that feeling around forever, only stronger, had something happened to me.”

She nodded. “Aro,” Bella said, licking her lips. “I… I haven’t been fair to you. Not since the whole soul mate thing.”

“In what way have you not been fair?” He asked, brow furrowing. 

“Because while I didn’t leave you, I _did_ fight it. A little. I kept refusing to say something that was very important, and when I thought I lost you-”

“Don’t,” He tried to say. “Not if you’re not ready.”

“I am,” She said with a nervous smile. “I love you.”

He’d never realized that, despite their intimacy, there had still been a missing piece within him that hadn’t slotted into place until then. He knew she loved him, but he didn’t realize that hearing it would make all the difference.

He’d no idea how he must have looked to her then, but Bella’s eyes had darkened, and her touch became less reverent and more demanding. It wasn’t unlike the memory Aro pulled up earlier.

“I love you.” She said again, kissing him quickly. “ _Ti amo. Je t’aime_.”

“One language was enough,” He smiled against her lips as she continued to kiss him in quick pecks. 

“It’s not,” She insisted with a smile of her own. “I need to make it up to you. I’ll say it however you want me to.”

He rolled them, having her hover over him.

“Then say it as you always have.” He said, his hands working to slowly remove her jacket. “Press the words that linger on the tip of your tongue into my skin with a kiss. Let me taste them on your lips, and nip them with my teeth.” He shifted his hands beneath the hem of her top as he sat up just enough to nose behind her ear. “Sigh the syllables against my cheek or neck as you have done in the past, let me hear them in the unspoken language you sing from your throat. I’ll know them by the caress of your fingers on my spine or chest, and the press and dig of them when you feel the words most ardently.” He kissed her cheek as Bella began to work the buttons of his shirt. “And if after all that you still feel it would not suffice, then you may whisper them or shout them for all to hear. I’ll take it all, _mia amata,_ and be honored to have it.”

~AB~

They could have gone on for hours. In the past, they had, losing themselves in one another when there was nothing else that needed attention. But this hadn’t been about seeking pleasure. This had been about affirmation, confirming that they were truly together again.

Bella breathed in Aro’s scent as she laid her head against his chest. She felt his arms around her, the way the fingers on one hand traced a line up and down the arm stretched over his chest, the other lightly pulling on the strands of her hair. She pecked his chest where his heart once beat.

“I love you,” She said again after she had said it so many times already.

“ _Ti amo anch'io. più che altro,*”_ Aro said in return.

Bella smirked, “even yourself?”

He chuckled in his throat. “Yes, _mia cara_. Even myself.”

She kissed his chest again, then shifted to lay across him. Aro adjusted his hold, fingers now running between her shoulder blades while the other sat low on her waist.

“Do vampires hold funerals? Or ceremonies when one of their coven members die?” She asked as she crossed her arms over his chest and rested her chin against them.

Aro frowned a little, “No. Normally we would mourn, of course, but normally the death doesn’t rip the coven apart as it has ours.”

“I want to do something for Marcus,” Bella admitted. “I want to honor him in some way when all this is over.”

He smiled. “I love how optimistic you’re being.”

“I’m also voicing my wishes. You’ve been around forever, you’re skilled.” She said, deciding now was not the time to tease him about his age despite the easy setup. “I’m barely capable of taking off a head, and it’s not like I’m going to get a lot of practice. The second Caius finds out that we’re together, and we know-”

“I believe it’s more the second he confirms we’re alive,” Aro corrected. “He’s had people looking for you, so it may be that he’s simply biding his time on that front. Merely believing you haven’t been found. You should have been back in Italy, I imagine the moment you weren’t is when the scouts were set to task. But me? I was with Afton and Michael. Afton would have been distraught over Chelsea, and therefore may not return. But Micheal had never liked me, so I’m sure he’s already suspicious I hadn’t been destroyed as asked.

“But that aside, I know what you’re trying to say. I’d rather not think on it in that way. Let’s instead focus on the possibility that you and I will be together on the other end, and we will honor him in some way then.”

She nodded, deciding it wasn’t something she really wanted to argue. 

A rustling drew Bella’s attention, and the background noise of the world she’d gotten very used to tuning out came to the forefront, allowing her to notice the heartbeat nearing them. She took a deep breath, tasting Aro’s scent as well as that of a rather large predator she had yet to encounter on her hunts with Edward.

Bella looked to the trees she faced and smirked as she noted the bear wandering toward them. 

She pounced, the bear growling at the human-shaped creature that now had her arms around its neck, and Bella laughed before biting down and drinking.

Fur was not exactly the best feeling in the world in her mouth, but the blood was just fine. A part of her mind said “gamy” like the memory of consuming something Charlie had hunted with Billy, but it didn’t bother her.

The Bear drained, she let go of it and looked up to find her mate on his feet, watching her with such distress that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Please do not tell me that this will be a new habit of yours.” He said, looking from her to the bear at her feet.

“It’s just easier while we’re here.” She said. Returning to stand in front of him, Bella looped her arms around his neck, smiling as he seemed to instinctively put his hands on her waist. “I spent a week with Edward and Jacob on the road. I didn’t feel comfortable hunting a human with them around, especially Jake. And I don’t really mind the taste difference.”

“I can’t imagine.” Aro grimaced.

So she kissed him rather deeply, knowing there were likely traces of blood still in her mouth. After a second, he gave a rather disgusted mewl, and Bella broke the kiss to laugh with her head tossed back.

She felt him kissing her neck, grinning against her skin.

“The only thing that made that experience at all palatable was the taste of you.” He grumbled. 

“So you won’t be joining me on hunts in the forest?” She questioned, shifting so he was forced away from her neck.

“No. I’ll hunt away from here,” Aro replied.

“Don’t go alone.” She said, the humor leaving her entirely at the thought of him going off without anyone.

“I won’t.” He promised, sealing it with a kiss. 

Bella slid her hands from Aro’s neck to wrap her arms around his torso, closing her eyes as she rested her head against his chest. She felt his arms go around her, holding her close, reminding her that he was likely still as worried for her safety over the last week. 

“I must say,” Aro said after a moment, “that despite your choice of prey, it was rather spectacular to watch you hunt naked.”

She smirked. “How spectacular?”

“I could show you if you’d like.”

~*~

They returned to the house just before sunrise, knowing with each step their moments of happiness together were literally behind them. At least for the time being. But now Bella felt as though they could face whatever was about to come. 

A part of her wanted to stop him, take Aro’s hand, run back to the woods. She knew she couldn’t though, so instead, she kept pace and lept back up onto the balcony with him.

He furrowed his brow. “I do believe I hear a heartbeat inside.” 

Bella listened, hearing that strange, hummingbird flutter.

A moment later, Felix was coming through the patio door and scooping Bella up in a hug. She gave a bark of surprise laughter as he moved her about in a circle.

“So glad you’re alright,” He said as he gave her one more squeeze and set her down.

“Glad you’re here, too. Heidi, did you two see her?”

His smile turned sad. “Yeah. And I’m going to tear the bastard apart when I see him.”

“Not if I do it first,” Demetri said from the door, moving to Bella with a proud grin. “Mistress.” He teased.

“Thank you,” Bella said as she hugged him. “Thank you for finding our guys. You’re the best.”

“Of course I am,” Demetri said haughtily, stepping back after a moment. He looked to Aro grimly. “Jack isn’t doing so well. We were a bit delayed at the border, Felix had to run out and carry him over some mountains to avoid the checkpoint. They did manage to hunt once, but…”

“I should go to him,” Aro said, glancing upstairs where it was likely Carlisle was tending to Jack.

“Then go,” Bella assured. “I think I can survive without you for a bit.”

He gave her a doubtful expression. “Given I watched you drink a bear,” He said.

“You managed a bear?” Bree said excitedly from somewhere in the house, followed by Esme’s laugh.

Bella rolled her eyes. “Go.” She said, and because she couldn’t resist, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Aro smiled, and then kissed her quickly on the lips before disappearing inside.

“I’d say I’m surprised at seeing the open affection, but I heard that there was a rather length reunion in the driveway,” Felix said, glancing from where Aro disappeared to Bella, a smile curling his lips. 

“It was something to behold,” Garrett agreed as he came outside as well. He smirked at Bella and shook his head. “Gone all night. What did you do to the fearsome leader of the vampire world, and how does one find a woman like you?”

“Probably by not pointing out how long two mates spend with one another,” Bella replied.

“Yeah, suppose there’s that.” Garrett nodded. “I know I gave him a hard time yesterday, but he’s not like the rumors said he was. For one, I definitely didn’t think he could be playful.”

“Playful? What do you m-” Bella’s eyes went wide. “You-”

“Heard,” Garrett said firmly. “Saw nothing. You guys were a ways out from where Ben, Tia, and I came back from. We saw nothing and heard nothing that you’d not want us to hear. Unless you really didn’t want us to know he could laugh in a way that _didn’t_ sound as though he was about to gleefully murder someone.”

She buried her face in her hands and giggled, rubbing her palms against her cheeks before shaking her head. 

“It’s a shame you two didn’t get along from the get-go because I have a feeling you’d have had a lot of fun humiliating me.” She told Garrett.

He shrugged. “I’m warming up to him. Like I said, not quite what I always heard him to be.”

“Allow us to answer some of your questions,” Demetri said. “We’ve known him much longer than Bella.” 

Bella stayed with the three of them for a little while, listening to their discussion mostly based around Volturi politics, and then she went inside to find Alice.

~AB~

“My mate stays with your coven little more than a week, and upon our reunion, I find she’s become a ‘vegetarian’.” 

Carlisle grinned, glancing at Aro. “Perhaps now you’ll try the diet.” He said before examining something through his microscope.

Aro grimaced. “I had enough of a taste second hand to know it’s not something I’ll attempt.”

Carlisle chuckled quietly. “You tasted blood mixed with venom, I’m guessing. Of course it wouldn’t taste pleasant.”

“My mate’s venom,” Aro retorted. “Hardly like it would be something I’m averse to.” He looked over Carlisle’s shoulder, then over at the prone form in the bed. 

Jack was far paler than he had been when Aro left the day before, the wounds on his leg and arm still bleeding now through the bandages. He looked small, helpless. It was one of the reasons Aro couldn’t understand why anyone would allow the risk of creating a half-mortal child. Immortal children there was a sick understanding of it. But this? Knowing the prodigy created with a human would one day die, seemed unthinkable. 

This small boy had no one left in the world, had been barely alive a year, and it wad very clear he was dying. 

“Is there a chance you can save him?” Aro asked Carlisle quietly. “I’ll not hold you responsible should you say you can’t, but I must know if there’s much reason to stand around at his bedside.”

Carlisle turned and met Aro’s eye. “You care for him.”

“I’m part of the reason he found himself in Russia facing off against a pair of werewolves. I went to investigate his existence, destroyed his father, and coven when they attempted to destroy us. Only he and his guardian escaped and she was killed trying to keep him alive,” Aro explained. “He could have almost another three hundred years of life if he makes it through this.”

“The problem is the werewolf venom is attacking the vampire venom,” Carlisle explained. “Jacob was kind enough to allow me to see what made him different one day while he was waiting for Bree. I didn’t have a sample of a true werewolf to examine, of course, but the results were fascinating nonetheless. Jack’s sample looks very similar to Jacob’s. Our venom would make him very sick, possibly kill him but it would more likely slow down his healing ability. It’s likely the same for Jack. I’m going to collect a bit of my venom, see if introducing additional vampire venom will have an effect.”

“It won’t change him,” Aro reminded Carlisle.

He shook his head. “It’s not my intent. I more want to see if the secondary venom will work like intervenous medicine. Perhaps the addition would counteract the werewolf venom. It’s definitely preventing him from healing.” 

“I suppose that could work, but I would imagine you would need a lot of venom. Even at our most feral, we don’t produce enough to supply an adequate amount to collect for such a use.”

“I can’t imagine the venom of multiple vampires would make any difference if one doesn’t do harm,” Carlisle pointed out. “Given I’d never heard of a half-vampire before you told me about this one.”

“I believe as of now, there are only another four currently alive in the world. I have met eight in all my years. They’re exceedingly rare given the exacting circumstances required for their conception.”

Carlisle hummed in understanding. “Bella has hinted that….”

“Yes. Had she and Edward… there is a very real chance that she would have carried one, and likely would have died from it.”

Carlisle nodded. “It all worked out for the best, then.”

“I would say so.” Aro agreed, though perhaps for a slightly different reason than Carlisle.

~AB~

Bella watched in awe with the others as Benjamin demonstrated his many talents. In the last hour, he created another rather large column of stone, manipulated a fire to first grow then extinguish, and now he was causing a small cyclone to weave its way around some of the trees.

“That’s amazing.” She said with a wide grin. “There’s a river not far from here, you would have crossed it last night. You could manipulate that, too?”

“I could,” Benjamin agreed with a smug grin. “I can’t create the elements, only control them. Fire always made Amun nervous, it’s the one I’m most out of practice with.”

Demetri pursed his lips thoughtfully. “You can manipulate, but from how far away?” He asked.

“I have to be fairly close by, at least for now,” Benjamin replied.

Demetri grumbled. “It could have been handy.”

“How so?” Bella asked.

“The twins.” He replied, no explanation needed.

“Bella could take care of them,” Garrett pointed out. 

“No, she could shield us, but probably not all of us.” Demetri countered.

“We could test it out,” Alice offered cheerfully, swinging her legs from her perch on the balcony above. “Edward just has to be able to tell us if he can’t read our thoughts anymore, and then we’ll know if Bella can do it.”

“I’ve never tried it with more than one or two before.” She admitted. “I didn’t even know for sure if it worked with anyone but Aro until I covered Demetri.”

“How was this not declared to the coven?” Demetri asked.

“I can think of a few reasons,” Felix replied. 

“Still, she is a shield,” Demetri tried to reason, gesturing to Bella while looking at Felix. “I am honestly surprised that this wasn’t shared more widely, given what she can do.”

“I asked that we not say anything,” Bella replied. “We discovered it so soon after my transformation, and I had a bad feeling. I knew I couldn’t trust everyone.”

“That’s gonna work to our advantage.” Jasper pointed out. “‘Cause I’m willin’ to bet the first thing Caius will do is take everyone out with Alec, get the stragglers with Jane.”

“Why don’t you try?” Garrett suggested.

Bella nodded. It couldn’t hurt, and they were to be her allies in all this. 

She fought the urge to close her eyes, closing her eyes wouldn’t be an option on the battlefield. Instead, she glanced around. First to Garrett who was standing nearest to her, willing the stretch of her shield to expand and loop around him. She could feel him within it, but he didn’t react, much like Demetri didn’t. 

He was next, he and Felix since the two barely left one another’s side since she saw them again earlier. Probably hadn’t since Demetri found Felix, Aro, and Jack in Alaska. She felt them both as well, and this time she noted the flinch in Demetri’s brow like he wanted to frown but resisted. Felix did it outright, glancing at his mate in confusion.

Ben was next since she could see him. He was farther away, harder to reach. She could feel her shield stretching, the tautness of it loosening, and for a moment she worried she wouldn’t be able to get him. But she then felt his presence faintly and moved on.

Peter and Charlotte were with Jasper off to her right, and she willed the shield to grow. Much like with Ben, she couldn’t be sure she had them for a moment, and then she could feel them faintly as well.

“You’re doing well,” Edward encouraged from somewhere behind her. “I stopped hearing the thoughts of a few people already.”

Bella nodded slightly, took another breath, and pushed the shield out behind her.

Tia, Alice, Esme, Bree, she knew she had them as they were closer than Ben or the southern vampires to her in proximity. She grinned to herself, finding it hard to hold it out that far, like pressure on her muscles, but she was doing it nonetheless.

But why stop now? Why not push? She couldn’t really get hurt, could she? Or if it was possible, it’s hardly like it would be anything damaging.

Bella stretched, feeling her shield slink within the house. She felt herself catch Heidi, and then a moment later, there was Carlisle, Jack, and Aro.

It was a strain, she was reminded of pushing her body to the limits as a human, the fatigue in her arms and legs after a lot of exercise. The pull on her form like she carried too many bags of groceries at once just to limit her trips. If she needed oxygen she’d be panting, and she almost wanted to just to see if she could find relief.

“I can’t hear anyone here,” Edward said with a giddy lilt to his voice. “It’s the first time I’ve had silence in company since I’ve changed.”

“ _Ben fatto, amoro mia,”_ Aro said from upstairs, the admiration in his voice tinted with something else she was rather familiar with. It made her smirk for a second.

“I can’t hold it.” She admitted, and let it go.

Edward hissed behind her, and she turned to see him holding his head as if the rush of voices had given him a headache.

“Sorry,” She apologized with a grimace.

“It’s fine,” Edward said with a quick quirk of his lips. “Bit of what someone might call whiplash.”

“Does… anyone else hear a heartbeat?” Garrett asked. “Other than that Jack kid’s?”

Bella listened, straining, then noted there very much was a heartbeat coming toward them.

“It’s Jacob,” Edward said in confusion. “But I can’t… it’s taking me a second to get my head sorted.”

Bree went in the house a moment, then came back out just as Jacob in wolf form came through the trees.

“Holy shit!” Felix exclaimed, and Ben jumped up on the balcony in a single leap to back away. 

Bree jumped down, carrying a bag over to Jacob and nuzzling into his neck for a moment before backing up and turning to face them.

Jacob retreated a little way with the bag in his mouth, and a moment later there was a ripple in the air that said he changed.

“So, we have a problem,” he said once he was human, the rustle of the bag signaling his getting what was likely pants out of it.

“What’s that?” Bella asked. “Did you see someone while patrolling?”

“No, no vamps. That’s not the problem right now, it’s Leah.”

“What about her?”

“She, ummm….”

“She didn’t!” Edward snapped. “Aro!” He called, and Bella frowned at him for summoning her mate like that.

“Jake?” Bella asked, stretching her shield out around him so Edward wouldn’t continue to hear Jacob’s thoughts before he voiced them.

Jacob grimaced. “So… there’s a rule in the pack. You might remember we can’t tell anyone who’s an outsider about what’s going on. I tried to get you to figure it out, remember?” Bella nodded, though she didn’t really fully recall. 

Jacob continued.

“The exclusion to that rule was family and imprints. Leah… found her way around one of them. Because now Charlie’s family.” 

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t as simple as ‘she knows you’re all wolves’?” Bella asked.

Jacob sighed, “Because she told him about you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I love you too. More than anything else.
> 
> I promise to try not to leave you hanging on the cliffhanger for too long. I do know/remember from comments people hoping Aro would meet Charlie while Bella was human. Well....  
> Thanks for everyone reading and giving love. I have the next chapter completely written, and estimate that I need to write about four more. The numbers may change if it hits a point that feels like a good stopping point.  
> Until next time.


	37. Chapter 37

“Okay,” Bella said. “But Charlie knows I’m different. We talked about it at the wedding. He asked, I told him it’s need to know.”

“Yeah, except that’s the excuse Sue would use for Leah and Seth. Leah pointed out that maybe ‘need to know’ is something he should really prod at.” Jacob said with annoyance as Aro suddenly came up beside Bella.

She reached for his hand, holding on to it tightly.

“What did she say?” Bella asked.

“Everything but the word,” Jacob said, “And the diet, she at least had enough decency not to do that.” 

“Had she any idea what sort of danger she put Charlie in by encouraging him to think it through and figure it out?” Aro asked, his jaw tight.

Jacob shrugged. “I know of your laws because I’ve talked to the Cullens, to you. Which means Leah would know as well because of how we communicate when we phase. I think it’s the only reason she didn’t outright say ‘Bella’s a vampire’.” 

Aro huffed, cursing in Italian. “At least your father thinks you’re in Italy. Ensure your phone is charged, we’ll figure out a way-”

“He knows she’s here,” Jacob interrupted, “Because Leah told him.”

“For fuck sakes!” Bella screamed, kicking a rock and sending it flying into a tree. It took a part of it off, making it tip and fall into another. Thankfully it was away from the house, though that was the only relief she felt from any of it. 

“Okay, who’s Charlie?” Garrett asked.

“My dad,” Bella replied with a snap she immediately felt guilty for.

Garrett didn’t seem to mind all that much.

“Right, and this Leah - who is a big ass wolf, too - is somehow… related?”

“Her mom married Bella’s dad almost two weeks ago,” Jacob replied for her.

“Making them step-sisters,” Edward added.

Garrett began to laugh giddily, but one glance from Bella and he sobered as best he could. He was still shaking a bit as he put his hands in the air in surrender.

There was a car on the road, which wasn’t really abnormal, but it was beginning to slow down. Bella closed her eyes and sighed. Of course, he came as soon as he could. Of course! Because if he thought there was a way he could get answers, he was going to come and try and squeeze them out of her.

“Garrett, Ben, Tia. I know you guys are guests and we’re grateful to you for coming to us.” Edward started, “But….”

“We’ll not further exposure.” Ben agreed, smiling at Bella. “I know what it’s like to want to keep connections to your human life.” He said, glancing lovingly at Tia. 

“Thank you. Really, all of you.” Bella said as she could hear Charlie’s cruiser start to make its way down the drive. She turned to Felix and Demetri, “You guys don’t have to stay, either.”

“Your father has already encountered me,” Demetri replied.

“Yeah, but I don’t know when you guys last hunted, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” She turned to Aro, “Same with you.” 

“I’ll be fine, _mia amata_.” He assured her. “I hunted yesterday while I made my way to you.”

“I’d rather not risk it.” Felix told Demetri. 

“Then we’ll go,” Demetri replied to Felix, then glanced at Bella.

She nodded, and the couple took off into the woods.

Bella then let go of Aro’s hand and jumping up on the balcony, him doing the same a second after. 

“Suppose I don’t have time to put in contacts?”

“You won’t need them,” Alice assured her. “Do you want us around?” 

Bella could hear the cruiser inching closer. “Yeah. Yeah, sure just….”

“We’ll stay out of the way,” Esme assured. “Maybe we can just be inside?”

Bella nodded.

“Jake and I will go to the meadow,” Bree said to Esme before turning to Bella. “Good luck,” she said before turning to Jacob, gesturing for him to follow her. 

Jacob glanced back with an apologetic smile before taking off with Bree.

Bella felt the ripple of his phase as Charlie’s car came to a stop.

She frowned, realizing that Jacob would have had to have been naked either just before the phase, or he was about to hang out wherever they were going that way. Not that she could judge, really, given how long she and Aro spent together in the same state.

The slam of Charlie’s cruiser door snapped her back to the now.

She went inside at a human pace, the others following. She could hear Charlie making his way to the front door as Esme and Alice went upstairs. 

She didn’t know what to do with herself as Edward went down to answer the door. She didn’t know if she should sit or stand, face the stairs, or turn her back as she heard her father greet Edward with his usual coldness.

“Bella,” Aro got her attention. “You handled this well once already, I know you will again.” He assured her, cupping her cheek.

She covered his hand with her own for a moment, then decided to turn away from the stairs as she heard Charlie begin his ascension. Aro moved to the window, looking out at the woods, keeping his back turned to her dad as well.

She heard Charlie’s boots hit the floor, shuffle closer.

“Bells,” He said, cautious and hopeful.

“Hey, dad,” She said, wrapping one arm around herself and holding her Volturi pendant with the other. 

“So… Leah’s a big wolf,” He said, and she couldn’t help but snicker at his attempt at nonchalance. “And she told me Seth is too. So, my step kids turn in to a really big…. But before that, I’m told my daughter is something dark, and vile. And that it wasn’t some weird jealousy thing, and that… what she did would prove it. And after that, I should come here, because you would still be here, and the Cullens….”

“I was supposed to go back to Italy,” Bella replied, turning her head slightly to speak over her shoulder. “Something happened that prevented it.”

“Is everything alright?” Charlie’s paternal concern was touching, and she grinned.

“Not really, but it will be. Sooner than later, I hope.” 

There was a pause as Charlie took a few steps closer. 

“Bella, why won’t you look at me?” 

She bit her lip.

“I will, just… when I turn around, don’t freak out, okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, okay.”

Bella dropped her hands to her sides, fisting them as she slowly turned around, worrying her lip with her teeth as she met Charlie’s gaze straight on.

He reared back, a startled noise escaping from his throat as his heartbeat rocketed for a moment.

“Your eyes are red,” He said, voice strained.

“And yours are brown.” She countered, ignoring the glare she got for her cheek. “I can go get sunglasses or something if it’s-”

“No,” He said, closing his eyes as he lifted his hand toward her for a moment. “No, don’t… go anywhere, just… give me a minute.”

Bella nodded, perhaps a touch too fast, but it didn’t matter. Charlie hadn’t been looking at her anyway, and give when he already knew about the supernatural world, she doubted it would have been a big deal.

“Right, okay. So… need to know. Leah sort of hinted that you’re-”

“Don’t say the word, Chief Swan,” Aro said, surprising Bella enough to startle her though she didn’t physically react. She half-turned to her mate, seeing he was still facing the window, his hands clasped behind his back. “Saying the world will damn you to either one of two choices: become like Bella or a far less palatable yet equally permanent option.”

Charlie’s brows shot up. “And who are you to make that decision?”

“Aro is the leader of our kind,” Edward said as though speaking to a child and trying to be kind. Bella realized it was very much like how he would speak to her when he explained things. “He’s one of three who keep the laws for our people.”

Charlie nodded. “Esme’s relative or brother or something?” He quirked his brow at Bella.

She smiled nervously, shrugging one shoulder.

“Alright. So, don’t give it a name. Gotcha. So, how did this happen? Did you have a choice?”

“No,” Aro said as Edward said, “She could have.”

“Don’t lie,” Aro chided with his back still turned.

“She could have,” Edward repeated, “But I made a selfish choice that took hers away.”

“It’s what I wanted anyway,” Bella reminded him, giving him a sharp look.

“Edward?” Charlie asked, clearly not letting this bit go.

Edward met Charlie’s eye as he explained.

“I never wanted this life for her. When I left that September, I left in hopes that Bella’s life would be better. That she could get away from all this. I promised her I would stay away, that we all would. But then I was told she had killed herself.”

“You were what?” Charlie asked, glancing back to Bella furious. “You said you didn’t die!”

“I didn’t.” She retorted. “Edward is referring to when I went cliff diving at Le Push. Someone saw me, and told Edward that.” 

“It was my fault,” Alice said, having snuck down the stairs while everyone was occupied. “I saw it. And I told Rosalie, and she told Edward. I didn’t know someone pulled Bella out of the water until it was too late, and the damage was done.”

Charlie sighed with relief, smiling at Alice, looking happily and gratefully at Bella a moment before nodding to Edward to continue.

“In an unfortunate twist of fate, you were planning the funeral for your current wife’s husband,” Edward said as he looked to his feet. “Jacob was at your house and didn’t say who the funeral you were arranging was for. I thought the worst.

“So I went to Italy where Aro and the other law-keepers live. I asked if he would consider granting me an end. He wouldn’t. So I was going to take one from him. We can’t easily destroy ourselves.”

“You’re treading dangerously close to revealing too much, Edward,” Aro warned tensely. “So tread carefully.”

“I won’t let it come to that,” Edward assured glancing at Aro’s turned back before turning back to Charlie. “Bella went to Italy to save my life. Alice took her.”

“Your interview,” Charlie stated, knowing now it wasn’t true.

“Yeah,” Bella nodded. “Alice said what Edward was about to do and I couldn’t let him kill himself for me.”

Charlie rolled his eyes skyward. “I suppose that was the right thing to do. Stupid, but…” He sighed, then flopped a hand toward Edward.

“We were brought before Aro and his brothers,” Edward continued, “and they came to find out that Bella knew what we were. So, because of the law, she would have to-”

“That’s enough,” Aro commanded, turning on his heel and striding briskly to Bella’s side while glowering at the younger vampire.

“Yeah, I don’t need to hear it, thanks,” Charlie assured. “So, she figured you out, I’m guessing. And her saving your life got her in trouble. Now she’s, what? On probation or something? Is that why he’s here?” He asked, gesturing to Aro.

“He’s her husband,” Edward said in a glum tone.

“Her what?” Charlie seemed to have died a little at that.

“Would you stop saying that, we’re not married,” Bella growled, making Charlie flinch.

“You might as well be,” Edward countered. “It’s forever, isn’t it?”

“If she wishes for your head, you’re aware I’d give it to her, yes?” Aro asked Edward. 

“What does he mean?” Charlie asked when he got his composure back. He threw a thumb in Edward’s direction. “I thought you and _him_ had a thing?”

Bella shot Edward a glare before sighing. Then she turned to Aro, pressing her forehead to his forearm. There was no need to keep up formalities, or keeping distance. Bella took Aro’s hand in hers before she faced Charlie.

“I’ve been with Aro for about a year, maybe a little longer. You already know he was here when I graduated, you just never knew how long before. Edward broke up with me, and we never got back together. And while he was here, Aro and I got to know each other.”

Best leave out the bit about being soul mates. She had a hard enough time with it, Charlie would be all the more skeptical.

Bella expected an outburst from her father. Instead, Charlie merely blinked. 

“Huh,” He said. “You know, I sorta thought something was going on, but I thought maybe you were just being a bit sneaky.” His expression turned thoughtful. “I mean, you were. Just… not with who I thought you were being sneaky with. Actually, I think I like this better. Not the whole… but that you’re not with him.”

“That all it takes to earn your approval?” Bella snickered.

“Well, not sayin’ you’re great at pickin’ ‘em.”

Aro let out a delighted laugh that had Charlie looking at him wearily through the corner of his eye. Edward snickered, but quickly cleared his through and stopped when Bella shot him a warning look.

She didn’t need Charlie to say that Aro wasn’t helping paint himself in a better light to know it was his thinking. It gave Bella a better understanding of Bree’s perspective of how terribly annoying Edward’s mind-reading was.

“I had hoped we would never meet,” Aro said when he stopped laughing. “I’ll admit it had never been my intention for us to cross paths. But I suppose since Isabella’s mother knows me, it’s only fair you do as well. Especially given that you at least know there’s something unusual about us.” Aro stepped toward Charlie and offered his hand.

Belle caught his arm. “Aro.” She pleaded.

“Rest assured, _mia amata_ , I’ll not cast judgment,” Aro said as he continued to hold Charlie’s eye.

Charlie looked from the offered hand to the vampire’s face. “What’s she worried about?” He asked.

Aro’s genial smile stretched a touch wider, just a touch of the predator he was coming through, “Nothing you have to fear from me, I promise.”

“It’s okay, Charlie,” Edward said.

Charlie glowered at Edward but took Aro’s hand in a shake.

~AB~  
  


If there was one massive difference Aro could see between Renee Dywer and Charlie Swan, it’s that Charlie had desperately wanted Bella in his life, but simply couldn’t find a way to keep her there. It tore him apart when Renee had left with his daughter, and there had been many a summer that he was hoping Renee wouldn’t show up at the end. He even had a speech planned for such an occasion, that Renee had love Bella dearly, but couldn’t come to get her just yet. That she didn’t know when she could, and that Bella would stay with him until such a time would happen. Bella having come to Forks of her own free will despite being in her second last year of school had made Charlie the happiest he’d been in a long time.

Aro could see how much he really tried to like Edward but never could. Always something about him that put Charlie off. And then Edward left, and Bella….

Aro’s jaw tightened, but he maintained composure for Charlie’s sake.

Before he let go, since there was so little else to see and so little need for the handshake to go on, Aro caught the word in Charlie’s mind that he had clung to. Something he thought he’d overheard his step-children whisper about. Something he had suspected of Bella at his wedding but didn’t want to know. Didn’t dare to ask.

“You’re an incredibly perceptive man, Chief Swan,” Aro said as he clasped his hands in front of him. “So I’m sure you understand that what you suspect will never be confirmed.”

Charlie stared back at him for a moment before nodding.

“Do you love her?”

“I do.” 

“And you’ll take care of her?”

Aro pursed his lips. “She’ll never want for anything. And I will be devoted to her until I exist no longer. But I can not promise more than that.”

Charlie nodded, likely conceding that this was all way beyond his want of understanding. 

“You guys don’t turn into animals too, do you?” Charlie asked nervously, no doubt thinking of one particular lore as he glanced at the ceiling.

Aro couldn’t help a giggle at that despite Bella’s huff of annoyance.

“No,” Bella replied vehemently. “No, we don’t do that.”

“Okay,” Charlie said, glancing around the room again. “Okay,” he ran a hand over his face, half turning away. “Does your mother…?”

“What do you think?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, no, she doesn’t know. Hell, she’d look right at you and just,” He barked a laugh. “She did, didn’t she? She looked right at you and didn’t even see it.”

Bella gave a twisted grin but nodded.

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded, glancing about the room. “Well, Bells, I gotta say, I’m not even sure what to think of all this. But… I mean, it’s like I said at the wedding, as long as you, you know… call from time to time.”

Aro watched Bella’s heartbreak, and without thinking of their audience, immediately pulled her into his arms. Bella gripped his forearms, quickly touching her head to Aro’s shoulder before meeting Charlie’s steady look.

“I’ll try. But dad, something is happening. In our world, something is happening.”

“It’s why Leah told you about herself as well as Bella.” Edward offered, obviously having heard the thought from Jacob. “We have to leave, Jacob is having the others in his pack come with us. Leah doesn’t agree, and she was hoping that her revealing what she had would force Jacob to change his plans.”

Charlie frowned at Edward, then met Aro’s eye. “Why you’re not promising you’ll take care of her?”

“Precisely why.” 

Charlie sighed. “Try, alright,” he said to Bella. “Try to get through whatever is happening.”

“I promise,” Bella said, leaving Aro’s arms to hug her father.

It was an oddly strange thing to witness. Luca had been close to his family but tended to not be physically affectionate with those who were not turned. Aro had only witnessed Bella’s embrace with Renee through the latter’s memories. To witness the affection between parent and child, a human and a vampire, with his own eyes seemed odd. But remarkable nonetheless.

He could see that Charlie was the slightest bit uncomfortable. Perhaps from Bella’s body temperature, perhaps from her squeezing a bit too hard. It could have even been the way he seemed to want to hold her as tight as possible despite it likely being like hugging a statue. But all of that mattered not, because Charlie Swan’s love for his daughter was absolute. He would do anything, even accept the impossible, if it meant keeping her in his life.

Aro could almost picture it, them sneaking to Forks as Charlie continued to age. Bella visiting him until he was no more, the unshed venom in her eyes as she would watch her father’s funeral from a tree line, unable to be a part of it. But it would make Charlie happy, Aro knew, to have glimpses of his daughter even if she would remain nearly nineteen in physical form for eternity.

Charlie placed a quick kiss on the crown of Bella’s head, then stepped back.

“Sue’s going to start wondering what’s going on.” He said after clearing his throat. “Not sure if Leah would tell her, or what, so… I best be heading back.”

“I’ll be leaving Forks soon,” Bella told him as she returned to Aro’s side. “I’ll call when I can, though.”

“Alright.” Charlie nodded. He met Aro’s eye. “Treat her right.” 

“Like a queen.” He replied, earning him a smack from Bella.

He could see Charlie had questions and chose not to ask them. He turned to the stairs, pausing by Edward.

“She’s happy.” He told the boy. “She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her, and knowing she’s been with him for a year? That he’s been the one making her smile, really smile? That makes me like him. But make no mistake, her happiness came at a price, and I know exactly who was the one who made her pay it.”

Edward held Charlie’s eye. “No one regrets the choices that brought her to this day more than me.” 

Charlie continued on to the stairs without looking back. 

No one in the room moved until the engine could be heard starting outside, and then it was only Bella as she went to the balcony in a likely attempt to watch her father leave.

The second she disappeared out the door, Aro shot his gaze to Edward and growled.

 _You know how much I want to rip your head from your neck for what your actions did to her?_ He thought with a sneer, his jaw tight, hands balling into fists at his sides.

“I would let you,” Edward said quietly.

“Which is one of the reasons I will not,” Aro replied. “Because I think it’s _much_ more a satisfying thought to know you must suffer from the knowledge of what you did to her for the rest of your existence. I know you saw through mine and Charlie’s collective thoughts.”

“I did,” Edward confessed. “I hadn’t known. I only ever caught fleeting, stray thoughts from others at the school, from Charlie. I didn’t know she was… that bad. As bad as I was.”

Aro wanted to point out that what he’d done to Bella was worse, but thought better of it. Frankly, he was sure if he kept talking to Edward he would give in to his urge to rip off the boy’s arm and beat him with it.

Instead, he went to his mate, not worrying about not acting human as Charlie was far enough away from the house that he wouldn’t see anything.

~*~

They were still together on the balcony, merely enjoying time in one another’s presence while listening to the other vampires converse when Jacob returned with Bree. He was in his wolf form, lingering at the edge of the tree line, watching as she made her way to the balcony.

Aro kissed Bella’s cheek, “I’ll try not to be long,” He said to her before turning to the rail, leaping over and landing in front of Jacob.

The wolf let out a soft growl.

“I’d like a word with you if I could. As one leader to another.” Aro explained, and Jacob tilted his head. 

“He’ll need pants,” Edward called. “He’s concerned about modesty.”

Aro rolled his eyes. “Modesty. Honestly, it’s hardly as though nudity is something to be ashamed of.”

“It’s about dignity,” Edward countered. “Being civil.”

“I’ve had plenty of civil conversations in my many years in which clothing was optional.”

“It’s because you were born before the invention of clothes,” Bella teased.

He looked at her over his shoulder, pressing his tongue to the back of his teeth a moment.

She just grinned back smugly, leaning on the rail and holding her chin in her hand.

“I’m not quite that old, _mia amata.”_

“You’re right, you were born before clothes were more than a sheet.” She added.

“You go on about my age, but not once have I heard you complain about my experience.” He quipped back, which earned him a couple of chuckles from Emmett and Felix, as well as a surprised “ha” from Garrett. 

Bella pursed her lips and shook her head, Aro knowing full well her cheeks would have been crimson if it were possible, and he was rather smug about it.

Bree returned at that moment, coming down beside him and Jacob, handing Aro a plastic bag.

“Esme washes them, touches them as little as she can, then puts them in this so the smell doesn’t stick.” She explained when Aro looked at the back in confusion.

“He spends all his time with you, young one. I would think he’s used to the smell of at least your coven.”

Bree shrugged. “Habits, I suppose.” She said before turning to Jacob. She pressed her head into his fur at his neck a moment before taking off back to the house. 

Aro turned to the wolf. “I’ve no issue with those with among us hearing what I wish to say, but if you would rather the privacy, then lead on.”

Jacob nodded, then turned, taking off at a run through the woods.

Aro found he could only just keep up, and it made him wonder exactly how much faster Victoria had been than he was in order to have outrun the wolves as often as she had. But then, there was also the chance that Jacob had gotten stronger over the last year.

They stopped just on the other side of the river, and Aro chucked the bag at Jacob who caught it in his mouth and went behind the tree.

The ripple of the phase signaled that human Jacob had returned.

“Why do I have the feeling Bella’s constantly one remark away from ripping your head off?” He said with good humor.

Aro chuckled. “Likely because I say those sorts of things purposely to rile her. It amuses me, and she’s never asked me to stop.”

Jacob laughed again, re-emerging with a pair of athletic pants on, his hands in his pockets.

“So what did you want to talk to me about, one leader to another? Leah? Bree?”

“Bree?” Aro frowned.

Jacob shrugged. “I thought maybe you would have a rule against it somehow.”

“Hardly,” Aro replied. “The fact that the pair of you are not only friends but seem to have a bit of a romantic attachment is frankly remarkable. Who am I to get in the way of such a connection, when it does no one any harm except perhaps to one another. But if you can stand the proximity, _tanto meglio*._

“No, I had thought given what you said yesterday. About how you hoped your children would get to avoid the transformation. Allow me to understand, it only happens when vampires are in the area, correct?”

Jacob nodded, “Vampire comes in the area, we phase. The more vampires there are, the more wolves change. I’m not sure why it took so long for there to be as many in the pack as there are now, the Cullens had been here for a couple years before I changed, and then there was an influx after. But me, most of us, we changed after the Cullens left last year.”

“That could be because of Victoria’s stalking Isabella,” Aro offered. “And it could have been Isabella herself, given what she was: a vampire’s mate, as well as another vampire’s singer.”

Jacob pursed his lips and shrugged.

“But the reason I asked is because, as I said, I had a thought. I can’t promise it won’t ever happen, I’ve led the vampire race for thousands of years, and if I have learned anything it’s that there are always a few vampires who believe they are beyond or above the law. Still, if we manage to succeed in removing Caius from power, and I am once more seated on the throne, I had thought to enact another law. A treaty with you and your people of my own, even. One in which no vampires are to find themselves west of the mountain, that hunting here is the equivalent of hunting in the city of Volterra, illegal and punishable by death. The sole exceptions to this law would be the Cullens, should you allow their continued presence.”

Jacob leaned his head back, tilting it to the side as he studied Aro.

“You would do that?” He asked skeptically.

“It’s a small area.” Aro gestured. “It’s hardly a loss of hunting area.”

“But why? For Bella?”

“No, I would do it for you and your people. A fight against Caius and whoever he drags from the deep means the destruction of one side or the other. And there is hardly ever a battle without loss. You volunteered your older wolves, for which I assure you I’m grateful. This is my way of showing it. And hopefully, in time, there will be fewer wolves who phase.”

Jacob chewed on his lip.

“We stop aging until we stop phasing.” He said. “It’s why Sam wanted me to take over as Alpha because if he’s not aging, it’s harder for him and Emily to have children. I don’t have that issue with Bree. We know we’re not a perfect match for one another, but until one of us finds it, it’s…. I haven’t felt this way since Bella. And it’s more than it had been with her. So I’m choosing to stay with Bree. I’m continuing to phase to run with her, to be there for her. When the Cullens move on, I likely will, too. Or… Or I’ll ask if Bree can stay.” He blushed, “we hadn’t gotten that far.” 

Aro chuckled. “Young and in love, even if you know it’s fleeting. I can understand your choice.”

Jacob gave a quick, shy half-grin. “So, I’ll live for an incredibly long time, supposedly. I had an ancestor who continued to phase long enough he had three wives and outlived them all. The last was more of a tragedy than old age, but… I know I could probably live at least a hundred fifty years if I’m careful. And I know, I know that the fight coming up might make the difference. And I get that Bree could find her mate, or I could imprint, and it would all change, but I….” He trailed off with a huff.

“You met my former wife, Sulpicia?” Aro asked, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, Jacob nodded. “We haven’t been married for well over two thousand years. But there was a strange sort of love between us that neither of us could deny. We’d fight, of course, and bicker. She would remind me how much she hated me as she stormed out of Volterra, I’d call her a power-grabbing shrew as I left Greece. But there was always love. It just wasn’t the sort of love I found with Isabella. That Sulpicia found with Calliope. Yet whenever we were lonely she and I would find ourselves weaving back together for a time. 

“It could all change, of course. But if it doesn’t, and it may not for a long time, the two of you seem like you could sustain yourselves on the love you have for a very long time.”

Jacob nodded, looking out at the woods.

“How would you know if there was a vampire on our lands?” Jacob asked.

“I would arrange for someone in your tribe to inform us. And then I and Isabella would come to find out who.” Aro explained. “You would have full discretion to allow exceptions, as well as to handle the matter yourselves. But if they passed by and got away, well, I would say you would probably want us to seek them out.”

“I’ll think about it if that’s alright,” Jacob replied, meeting Aro’s eye.

“I’m merely making the suggestion. A gesture in good faith, as well as a thank you. Not only for your assistance both last year and now but also in what you did for Isabella while the Cullens left her.”

Jacob grinned more brightly that time, and probably without thinking, offered Aro his hand.

He took it, of course, and heard the echo of _Oh shit_ as Jacob recalled Aro could see every memory, every thought, Jacob had ever had.

Aro couldn’t help the peel of giggles as Jacob took his hand back and blushed very deeply. 

“Don’t say anything.” He grumbled. “Bad enough I get it from the pack.”

“I’ll say not a word,” Aro assured between fits. “Though how she keeps that from Edward….”

“I’m pretty sure he still thinks it’s a fantasy,” Jacob replied, his blush intensifying a moment. “Right, I’m… I’ve got to… yeah.”

He phased, the pants tearing to pieces and scattering about the forest floor as the wolf took off at a speed equal to a run.

Aro allowed himself a moment more to giggle at the young man’s embarrassment, then returned to the Cullen house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *All the better.
> 
> I wasn't as far ahead of myself as I would have liked to be, but I wanted to make sure not to leave you all hanging too long with that cliffhanger.  
> Our next chapter will close out their time in Forks, and we begin our shift into the finale. Please bare with me as there is a chance I will have less writing time coming up, though I will still try my best to keep to the every 2 days we've fallen into.  
> Until then!


	38. Chapter 38

“How’s the patient?” Aro asked as he entered the room in which Carlisle was tending to Jack. 

He could hear the boy’s heartbeat had sounded stronger, and he didn’t look as pale, but that really told Aro nothing.

“He’s doing well,” Carlisle replied. “I gave him an injection of my venom not long after I spoke to you about doing so yesterday. It seems to have worked.”

“So it seems,” Aro said thoughtfully. “How terribly interesting. We knew they could not be turned completely immortal, there have been parents who have tried to do so in the past with no luck. But to know it could counter the effects of something that would possibly kill them is something we had not considered.”

“What will happen to him?” Carlisle asked curiously, glancing over his shoulder at the sleeping patient before looking to Aro. “If he has nowhere to go-”

“Another for your coven, then?” Aro asked with a smirk. “How will you explain this one?”

“It was just a question.” Carlisle grinned in return. “I couldn’t help but notice most of the purely human drinkers avoid him. Felix looked extremely uncomfortable.”

“It’s because none of them can imagine intimacy with a human, so to see the product of such relations can be difficult. But none of your family flinch from him, I’ve noted.”

“I can’t take on another. It would look conspicuous.”

“To whom?” Aro asked. “I’m right here, and while I agree your family is a little larger than I would like it to be, what could be the harm in allowing him to join you? He’s mortal, if you all wish to have him with you, then please, be my guest.” 

Carlisle’s grin widened. “Thank you.” He said. 

Aro nodded, then glanced at the boy. “Do you need more venom? You’ll find yourself needing to hunt all that much faster if you keep drawing from yourself.” 

“I do,” Carlisle nodded. “You’re volunteering?”

“I’ve just returned from a hunt with Isabella, she and I are probably in the best position to do so. She has, however, been commandeered by young Alice to assist her in helping Heidi find a covering for her neck.” 

“Ah, so that’s why you’re here. Bella’s busy.”

“That and my scientific curiosity,” Aro retorted, getting a quiet chuckle from Carlisle. “I must applaud you, Carlisle. All these years practicing medicine, keeping up with the advancements of it. While I understand you’ve never had the desire for human blood, I still can’t imagine it being very easy.”

“I suppose it’s not without challenges. Edward would have made a fine doctor as well, but despite being around humans, his control is shaky when he’s exposed to large amounts of blood.”

Aro hummed in agreement, watching Carlisle as he prepared a syringe. “What will your family do after Bree is finished with school?”

“I was thinking Alberta, perhaps even relocate to Nunavut,” Carlisle replied. “Edward informed me that we need to let Ithaca go, which is always a bit heartbreaking.”

“I suppose you must move on. But to separate the young lovers, though,” Aro lamented.

“You were always a romantic,” Carlisle teased in a flat tone. “I had thought of that. I considered, perhaps, asking Jacob to join us. I understand he’s an alpha and would need to return here frequently, but I had hoped that perhaps he’d be able to stay with us after a while when the phasing ends for the rest of them.”

“It seems to be the way he was leaning as well.” Aro agreed, watching Carlisle turn to him with the needle at the ready. “What do I do?” He asked.

“Secrete as much venom as you can and open, I’ll extract it using this, inject it into Jack.”

Aro nodded than focused on causing as much venom as he could to pool in his mouth. The thought of an exquisite meal, rage at Caius, and what he’d done, moments with Isabella, they all worked to offer a fair amount of venom for Carlisle’s cause. 

The syringe filled, Aro watched as Carlisle went to Jack’s side, picking up his arm, and injecting the venom. There was a blackened spot around the area for a moment, then it cleared and Carlisle withdrew the needle.

“It’ll be a bit before it works.”

“There were no adverse effects?” Aro asked with a frown, glancing from Jack’s arm to Carlisle.

“Not that I can see. The sample of blood I took after the initial injection showed the venom having worked to counter that of the werewolf without changing any of his cells.”

“Hurts,” Jack mumbled, causing both vampires to look at his face.

“Pain lets you know you’re alive. Or so I’m told.” Aro replied.

Jack cracked his eye open for a minute. “Don’t normally feel much pain.”

“I imagine it’s something similar to the burn a human endures when they change, but to a lesser degree.” Carlisle offered. “If this continues-”

“Aro!” Ben shouted from outside the house, and Carlisle and Aro looked at one another in confusion.

Knowing whatever was happening outside likely took precedence over Jack’s recovery, Aro made his way to the nearest window facing the forest and opened it, jumping down and turning in the direction the scent of wolf came from. Carlisle had things under control regarding Jack, that much he knew for certain. 

He made to hurry but stopped short when a large, black wolf came through the trees. Behind it, Ben was just visible holding the arm of a vampire Aro wasn’t sure he was familiar with at first glance. There were two more wolves in the back, a grey one that snarled a little more than the other, which was a darker brown.

Garrett had revealed himself as the second vampire holding the other arm of the unfamiliar one, holding said arm in such a way that he was also able to keep a hand around the vampire’s neck. 

“What do we have here?” Aro asked curiously, sensing those within the house coming out to see.

“He’s here to kill you,” Edward said, his voice coming from somewhere inside the house. A second or so later, he was beside Aro, looking at the vampire with narrowed eyes. “It’s all he can think of right now. That you’re right here, and he just has to make either Ben or Garrett lose their hold on him so he can get to you.”

“You a mind reader or something?” The vampire asked Edward. “Can you hear what I think of you?”

“Really clearly,” Edward said without feeling.

“Aro,” Bella spoke, but he didn’t turn his focus from the vampire before him.

“It’s fine,  _ mia amata _ ,” He replied, sensing her getting closer. 

“He’s doing something,” Edward warned as a delicate ringing started in Aro’s ears. It began to grow louder, and as it did there was a blur to Aro’s vision. He flinched, squinted, trying to see past the blur. He could tell Garrett and Benjamin were doing their best to hold on but were failing. Everything grew worse, so those around him were nothing but shadows, and the whimpers of the wolves were barely noted.

And then it was suddenly gone, and Bella’s essence was enveloping him.

With clear vision once more, he could see one of the shadows in his vision had been Bella. She’d moved in the seconds that it took for the sensory deprivation to start, and had wrapped her hand around the vampire’s neck from behind, the other bracing his torso.

She met Aro’s eye over the vampire’s shoulder. “I wasn’t sure how long it would take to cover you all so I thought….”

“You did well,” He assured proudly. “Do you wish to have Garrett resume his hold?”

“I have him.” Bella assured, “I’m more concerned with keeping everyone functioning.”

“Well,” Aro said as she crossed the space between them. “Let’s see what our friend has to say, and then we’ll see if we can take care of that.” He grabbed the vampire’s head rather roughly and kept his eyes open as he sorted through the vampire’s thoughts.

Because Aro had not touched Caius in some thousands of years, he didn’t know that there was this charming French gentleman on one of the occasions he’d gone to the Volturi to complain about a fellow nomad. Caius and Marcus were the two present, Aro having been away to the Greecian coven for the moment, or so this vampire had been told. But Caius had gone with him to see this rival. And had promptly executed him for the thrill of it. This vampire had found Caius to be the pillar of leadership, and swore whatever Caius needed, he would provide. His skills were not as devastating as Alec, the range quite limited, which was likely the reason Caius had not brought him back.

“You can ease up on anyone near the house, Bella,” Aro told her. “He can only affect those nearest to him with his gifts.”

He refocused on the vampire’s thoughts.

Eventually, this vampire had moved on to New Orleans. He’d gotten word from the same vampires Aro had seen in Garrett’s memories that Bella was somewhere in the Americas. A few days later, he’d heard from someone else that Aro was on the run, something about breaking a law and the Volturi going for his head. The specifics were uncertain, and the vampire this one had heard it from was more terrified with what something like that could mean than anything. This vampire had figured if Bella had been on the continent, it was likely Aro was, too. 

The contact Aro had in the southern region, the vampire that had crafted Bella’s Volturi crest and chain, had confessed where Aro had been the year previous. The deprivation caused by this vampire’s gifts had forced him to speak honestly in hopes of relief.

He, as well as the stray vampire who was only trying to warn others of what was happening, had both been killed for their efforts.

“Well, well,” Aro said, letting go of the vampire’s head. “How very interesting.”

“What did you see?” Benjamin asked, and Edward filled him in one what he’d seen through Aro while Aro tried to weigh his options.

“You think he could be useful?” Edward questioned.

“Perhaps, but I’m not sure if the risk would be worth it,” Aro replied. “We at least know that there are vampires out there hunting for us. This one was merely uninformed that your coven is on the top of Caius’ list of undesirables.” He clicked his tongue. “But do we use him to send a message? Or do we merely execute him?”

“Execute him,” Benjamin said without hesitation. “He attacked Garrett and I the moment we asked if he was lost. The wolves here… we were rather closer to their treaty line than we realized. We did not cross,” he assured, “but we likely would not have had him if not for them.”

“Yes, the wolves,” Aro said thoughtfully. “Caius is under the belief that they do not exist.”

“And he can’t know,” Bella stated. “And if he escapes, Caius could.”

“I don’t particularly like the idea, but I don’t see another choice.” Edward pointed out, and Aro turned to look at the boy anew.

Edward met Aro’s eye dead on, confident. “My family, Bella, all of us, we can’t let Caius know we’re together like this. That we have others at our side.”

“And he’d know about my shield,” Bella said. 

Aro smirked, nodding once. “I believe this is our first bit of democracy.” He mused. “I suppose no one would object?” He arched a brow, listening to those present for anything in the negative. 

Not a peep.

“I suppose that settles it,” Aro stated.

“Allow me,” Benjamin said, and with a flick of his hand stone began to wrap its way around the vampire, holding him in place. It wouldn’t keep him, not for long, which caused Aro to frown.

“Bella, Garrett,” Benjamin said as the stone halted. “Wolves.” He added with a charming grin to the pack members. “You all might want to stand back a little.”

The wolves backed further into the woods as Bella went to Aro’s side, holding on to his arm. Garrett went behind Benjamin, probably figuring that was the safest place to be.

Just as the French vampire looked as though he was about to break out of the rock, Benjamin punched the Earth, and a chasm began to grow.

Aro grabbed Bella and backed them up, Edward with them, the sound of the other vampires gathered backing up as well.

The chasm didn’t stretch terribly wide or far. Just big enough for the vampire wrapped in stone to plummet. Curiously, they all inched forward, peeking in just as the vampire hit the molten earth below, and then Benjamin closed the chasm.

“Well, I suppose that takes care of him,” Garrett said to the ground, slightly horrified. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

Benjamin smiled rather proudly.

“Your mate is fantastic.” Heidi’s garbled voice said from the balcony.

“I rather think so.” Tia agreed, and Aro was pleased to hear his former guard forming a bond with someone. More reason to wish to stick around, he hoped.

“Sam, Leah, Paul, thank you for helping Garrett and Ben,” Edward addressed the wolves.

The black one gave a nod, and the two bigger ones began to turn but the grey one stared at the upper story window.

Edward’s eyebrows suddenly shot up. The other wolves stilled, looking from Leah to the window, then continued on.

Aro didn’t need to peek up to see what Leah was seeing, he could guess by the shocked and utterly frustrated look on Edward’s face what had likely transpired. Despite feeling a little bad for the young vampire, he couldn’t help but giggle. Edward shot him a glare.

“Your time will come,” He assured Edward before looking to Leah. “Jack is young yet,” He said to her. “I’m sure you know about him through Jacob, so all I will say is congratulations.” 

“Wait, she?” Bella said before Leah turned and took off, the other wolves following.

“Yes,” Edward said with a heavy sigh. “She imprinted on Jack.”

Aro peeked up at the window, looking at the very confused young man who was being assisted in standing by Carlisle and Esme.

“He’s a year old,” Bella stated. “And he looks, like, twelve. Maybe thirteen.”

“Jacob’s informed us it’s not usually a romantic thing if the imprint is young enough,” Edward said.

“But it becomes one,” Alice offered. “Almost always with little exceptions. Leah won’t have a choice in it, but Jack might.”

“Well someone should probably explain it to him,” Bella stated. “Because believe me, finding out you’re soul bound to someone if you didn’t know that was actually a  _ thing _ can be bad.”

“Bree could probably explain it,” Alice said. “Or Jacob. Maybe the two together. I can’t see if it would be a good idea.” She said the last bit on a grumble, causing Heidi chuckle and Aro to turn and look up at her.

It struck him then how well Heidi looked at Alice’s side, the realization that they could be great friends if this whole thing goes their way. Tia as well, the three of them somehow making him think of an inseparable trio, and an absolute nightmare to have in the same room together.

“You have no idea how right you are right now,” Edward grumbled quietly just before the three of them turned and went back inside.

“I really would rather it remain that way for now,” Aro replied. “It seems rather terrifying.”

“Tia’s never really had friends,” Ben inputted cheerfully. “It’s nice to see.”

“You say that now,” Edward smirked, “but Alice-”

“Shut up, Edward.” Alice sing-songed from in the house, Heidi’s gravel laugh and Tia’s more bell-like one following. 

There was a silence that followed that small burst of joy, one that grew heavier by the moment.

“He’s getting closer,” Demetri noted from where he and Felix were in an open window. “Sooner or later someone will get smart, and instead of attacking as the scouts have been, they’ll merely report back.”

“You’re quite right, I’m afraid.” Aro agreed. “Which means we’ll need to move on sooner than expected, perhaps even sooner than we’d have liked.”

“The school day is ending, and Jacob will phase soon. Once he does, he’ll come here.” Edward reasoned. “I’ll go pick up Bree.”

He left, moving rather rapidly.

Likely to get away from all that happened. He had likely overheard the conversation Aro had with Carlisle regarding Jack. And, unofficially or not, that was yet another member of Edward’s family who had found someone they could love and be with, even if it’s not what would happen in the beginning. 

They could hear the car leave the driveway rather more quickly than the poor machine likely should.

“We should probably be in contact with the others,” Benjamin noted after the engine sound faded. “Perhaps we can arrange a time with them through those interesting little devices I’ve been seeing the Cullens use. Contact them, let them know what happened.”

“Amun has truly sheltered you, hasn’t he, my young friend?” Aro noted with a touch of pity and a lot of disdain for his former foe.

Benjamin chuckled. “That he has. Which is why I’m sure he will not be surprised when I don’t return.”

“I suppose not.” Aro agreed as an idea sparked at the edge of his mind. “I imagine you’d very much want to be in charge of your own life.”

Benjamin smiled almost as if he knew what Aro was thinking, and the Volturi leader felt as though he had come to a silent understanding with the young man.

“I’ll contact Calliope,” Demetri said, “And tell her to have Sulpicia and Eleazar awaiting a call this evening.

~AB~   
  


Bella realized that they were essentially holding a war council.

She stood at Aro’s right, Benjamin to his left, Edward to her right. Jasper was beside Benjamin, and on the other side of the rectangular table stood Garrett, Alice, Demetri, Felix, and Jacob. Peter and Charlotte stood off to the side with Tia, Heidi, Esme, and Bree.

In the center of the table was Demetri’s cell phone. It had turned out that while Sulpicia wasn’t one for modern technology, Calliope was, and it had been her phone Bella had called that night shortly after all this began.

“So the lot of you should be arriving soon,” Sulpicia said after Aro, Benjamin, and Edward filled her in on what was happening. “It’s probably for the best. We had encountered someone while we were on our way here, but as Emmett and Rosalie were not with us, we could deflect suspicion.”

“Your pendant didn’t draw attention?” Aro asked.

“She tucked it away.” Calliope offered. 

“Yes, I’m sorry but considering what was happening I thought it prudent to hide it well before we made it to Alaska. It turned out to be a good decision.” Then slyly added, “A queenly decision.”

Aro rolled his eyes and gave Bella an exasperated look that she couldn’t help snicker at.

“I want to point out that I refused to take it off.” She said to him. “Meaning Sulpicia is  _ wiser _ than I am, and therefore better suited.”

“You were loyal,” Benjamin offered. “Loyalty should be celebrated.” 

“We can decide the leaders once we get through this,” Jasper said with an amused smile.

“If we must,” Sulpicia said. “That said, we sent them to the east knowing Bella had been there. I think Caius’ growing rather impatient.”

“Are we really surprised, though?” Bella asked. “I mean, I get that I don’t know Caius as well as some of you, but he never struck me as someone who would go in for any sort of delayed gratification.”

“You’re right,  _ mia amata _ , he would not.” Aro agreed. “Which is why I believe if we stay we’ll find more and more vampires coming out way.”

“Causing more phasing,” Jacob acknowledged. “So we need to move on sooner to prevent that as well.”

“I’m afraid things are worse than his merely having vampires out looking for you and Bella.” Sulpicia countered. “Calliope has managed to keep contact with a few of the coven members who fled. Dianne had hoped to find some aid in Malta for her and Leo.”

“Hoped?” Aro said, his tone one of someone preparing for the bad news. Bella gripped his hand, and he interlocked their fingers, bracing.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Garrett cringed.

“As you shouldn’t,” Sulpicia warned. “It’s rumored the Romanians have paid him a visit.”

“ _ Merda _ ,” Aro cursed.

“Paid him a visit as in killed him? Or joined him?” Bella asked.

“From what we heard, joined him,” Sulpicia replied.

“They wiped out the Malta coven, Aro.” A man Bella was told earlier was Eleazar had said in a gentle voice. “Luca, Reneta, all the guardians as well as the actual human members. We’re not even sure if Mekenna and her mate escaped the destruction.”

“Shit!” Aro cursed louder, turning away from the rest.

Bella squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back before giving her hand a tug and bringing her into his arms. 

Bella glanced over at Demetri and Felix, seeing them wrapped in a half embrace, their heads pressed together in mourning. A glance at Heidi had Bella seeing Esme had moved to comfort her.

Bella had never met anyone of the Malta coven, though they had fascinated her greatly. She felt for her coven, though, knowing that Renata had spent time with them, knowing that there was probably a strange sort of friendship between the Malta vampires and the Volturi because of it.

“So what would it mean,” She said when it seemed no one else knew what to say. “If the Romanians sided with Caius, how could that work in their favor? Either side?”

“He didn’t hate them in the same way Marcus and I did,” Aro explained. “He didn’t like that they couldn’t find anywhere to hunt where there wasn’t serious danger to him and Athenodora.”

Sulpicia scoffed. “As though he’d let Athena hunt.”

“Be that as it may, we became the Volturi scum. Now that they think I’m likely dead and it’s only Caius in place. All they would need to do is either sway the twins to their side or find a way to kill them. Then they could destroy Caius, and resume power. That would likely be their plan. As for Caius… I do not know, not for certain.”

“So if the Romanians would go to Caius thinking you are dead, why are there still vampires looking for you both?” Benjamin asked curiously. 

“Because he would want to ensure I was nowhere to be found. And I was, he’d want the body to prove my demise. And the same would go for Isabella.”

“Why?” She said, looking up at her mate. “I’ve made it pretty clear I was only there for you. Why is my death something he has to prove?”

Aro gave her a sad smile and tapped her crest.

“You’re a leader of the Volturi, whether you accepted it or not.” He said gently. “And if something happened to me, you would be deemed my successor. It’s why Sulpicia was allowed to keep her crest. I married her, called her my wife, and therefore -prior to my meeting you- was the one who would have taken my place should something unfortunate became of me.”

Bella frowned. “You said it was for protection.” She reminded him.

“I did, while you were human. And I asked you to continue to wear it when you changed because you are my mate. And while I will always respect your request to never marry, there were certain expectations. Imagine if something were to happen to me, and my mate was not the one to take over in my place?”

“What about Marcus?” Bella argued. “He didn’t… who was his successor?”

“I rightly don’t know,” Aro admitted. “There was possibly a will somewhere, he found those to be rather fascinating. If Athenodora was at all able to, since she had been a queen for longer, it likely would have passed on to her.”

“Athena would be in no position,” Sulpicia argued, causing Aro to smirk.

“I suppose that means you would volunteer?” Aro asked the phone with a quirk of his eyebrow.

A pause of silence. “Well, Bella certainly thinks I would be right for the job.”

Bella snickered at that, nodding though Sulpicia wouldn’t see.

“Don’t encourage her,” Aro admonished teasingly.

“Much as I dislike the idea of having lost Renata, at least we don’t have to worry about her being on Caius’ side,” Felix said, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Why’s that?” Jasper asked.

“She was a shield, a little different than Bella’s,” Felix explained.

“And no one but us knows about it?” Jasper asked, and the heads of those who had been in the former Volturi coven shook their heads. “And you said Caius would likely have his werewolf huntin’ buddies?” He directed this to Demetri who nodded.

“Caius was never one to form friendships,” Aro commented.

“I don’t think there would have been many left who would have been on his side,” Heidi said, shifting a bit behind Esme when attention was turned to her. “He was pretty thorough in his gutting.”

“They would have been my choices or Marcus’,” Aro nodded. “But Demetri is right, those who helped him attempt to wipe out the werewolves would give him a large number. Perhaps about the size of what our coven was. “

“You said there were thirty-five of us,” Bella said.

“Yes, so add to that those that would remain with him.”

“And any the Romanians might have brought with them,” Edward noted.

“How many do we have on our side?” Benjamin asked. “Our numbers seem rather small.”

“I counted twenty-four vamps before the other ones left,” Jacob noted.

“Heidi has declined to fight, which is understandable,” Aro stated.

“Alright, twenty-three.” Jacob corrected.

“We’ll have four more for you,” Eleazar added. 

“How many of the pack?” Jasper asked.

“Ten,” Jacob replied.

“Who’s staying?” Bella asked.

“Sam, to make sure the youngest ones have someone to lead them, as well as someone with experience should any of these wandering vamps make their way here. I was gonna force Leah to come, too, but considering she imprinted on the half-vamp upstairs, figured I’d let her stay here to watch over him.”

“Imprinting is like your mate?” Benjamin asked.

Jacob shrugged. “Sorta, yeah. Only a few of the pack have done so. There will be two that will be leaving behind their imprintees, but it’s something they volunteered to do.”

“As interesting as it is, you can ask Jacob all about it later,” Edward cut in. “Will thirty-seven be enough to go against who Caius will bring?” He directed to Aro.

“I want to believe so.” He replied. “But given the small network he accumulated.”

“Do you really think they’re loyal to him?” Calliope asked in a scoffing tone. “They’re likely more afraid of him. Especially if he has Jane and Alec with him.”

“Calliope is right.” Sulpicia agreed.

“We’ll have an advantage with the wolves much like we did with the newborns.” Jasper pointed out. “They outnumbered us two, maybe three to one, and we still came out almost totally unscathed.”

“The twins, though,” Eleazar said worriedly. 

“Bella’s shield can stop them,” Edward replied.

“Wait, hold on.” Bella turned to him, meeting his eye. “I could barely stretch it over, what, a dozen of you? I couldn’t even get a good hold of anyone who wasn’t on the ground today when that guy did the thing. I’m not going to be able to shield everyone, let alone shield everyone,  _ and _ fight.”

“Practice,” Demetri said. “You’ve just got to work on it, like any gift.”

“And you have been working on it,” Aro reminded her. “You just never had cause to try on so many before.” 

Bella nodded.

“And it will do well for a reigning member of the Volturi to be able to protect their people,” Alice said with confidence, a smile lighting her eyes.

Bella turned to Alice, ready to argue that that wasn’t the case at all, but stopped short. 

She was smiling a little proudly, though there was an apology as well. Bella frowned, almost asking what when she realized something.

One path to a possible victory. And it was made the only path the moment Bella decided she would fight for the coven, Aro or no. The moment she essentially took her title on.

She’d denied it multiple times, but clung to her crest the way Aro still did. She gave commands, she allowed Demetri’s cheeky remarks of “mistress”. Without realizing, even as she said she didn’t want the throne, she didn’t renounce it.

But could she really be a third of a whole ruling body when she wasn’t even out of her newborn stage? It somehow didn’t seem fair. There were others better qualified for the job than her.

“How far from the main city do the Denalis live?” Garrett asked thoughtfully.

“We’re miles out,” Eleazar replied. “High enough on the mountains that we don’t have to worry about being seen.”

“So we contact Caius somehow, Alice can watch his decisions to see when he’ll arrive, the wolves shouldn’t affect that.” Edward pointed out, and Alice gave an uncertain nod. “He won’t expect the numbers.”

“But he would expect the people,” Felix said thoughtfully.

“That’s an intriguing idea,” Edward said to him with a smile.

“Not just a pretty face,” Felix said with a wink that earned an eye roll from his mate.

“Mind sharing with the class?” Bella asked, turning a bit further away from Aro, facing Felix.

“Caius would expect something like this.” He said, gesturing around the table. “At least the covens he knows were Aro’s friends. “The Denalis because of Eleazar, and you guys because of Carlisle, and also because of Bella. So what if we have someone play informant? Tell Caius Aro and Bella found each other, and are hiding somewhere north?”

“It’s not unlikely that Eleazar could have turned me away should I have run there.” Aro reasoned.

“Given what happened to Irina?” A woman Bella was unfamiliar with said, and she noted that Garrett shifted a little at the sound of her voice.

“Precisely.” Aro agreed.

“So we all go up north, but then what? Aro and I just go hide in the mountains?” Bella asked.

“You wouldn’t be able to practice expanding your shield if we did that,” Jasper noted.

“It could be best if we decide on a meeting spot for now,” Benjamin reasoned. “We could probably travel there in groups.”

“I got my jeep,” Emmett said over the line. “We could bring up tents and clothes for the wolves. Food?”

“We could from here as well.” Edward agreed. 

“Yes, but if we are all heading up further north, how do we let this Caius guy know where we are without tipping him off that we’d all be there?” Bree asked. “Wouldn’t he hear the others in the background? And isn’t this supposed to make him think that none of us went with Bella and Aro, that they’re on their own?”

“Bree’s right,” Bella said. “We’re avoiding luring him to Denali so he thinks both covens have turned us away. Or better, are already taken care of.”

“So what do you propose we do,  _ mia amata?” _ Aro asked.

“Heidi contacts him,” Bella said with a tilt of her head in her friend’s direction. “We give her a phone that Santiago or someone wouldn’t have a number to. She can give him where we’re expected to be hidden. She can even say something about us being turned away, or going to the house and finding no one there. That way if someone  _ is _ sent there, they can see it’s true. Caius will come for us, but he won’t expect all of us.”

“There could be an advantage in that, too,” Jasper said thoughtfully. “He might bring fewer numbers.”

“But would that mean he’d stay behind?” Benjamin asked. “He and the Romanians?”

“I don’t think he will,” Aro replied, turning to Benjamin. “Caius loves bloodshed, and if he’s got his heart set on ensuring mine and Isabella’s destructions, he will want to see it for himself. The Romanians will join him, and if they do not, they’ll be easily disposed of afterward. I’m unconcerned about them in the meantime.”

“And what of Athena, Aro?” Sulpicia asked. “What do we do regarding her?”

“She lives,” Bella said without any room for argument, meeting the eye of everyone in the room. “Unless she outright attacks, or gives us any reason to do otherwise, I say she lives.” She turned to Aro who looked back at her with the slightest furrow of his brow. “She’s been alone for who knows how long, with only what amounts to her dealer as company. An occasional visit from her mate, or a walk as far as the throne room to sit and see no one? That’s not a life, she’s barely had a life since she’s been turned. I love you, but I would resent you if you did that to me. So she lives. She gets to have a choice.”

“And what if she’s like Marcus? The loss of Caius throwing her into a depression that has her wishing for an end?”

“Then she can have an end, but the choice would be hers.”

Aro smiled ever so slightly and nodded. “Very well. We shall see about freeing her when this is all done, then.”

Bella nodded once as well and allowed the others to continue their planning.

~*~

Planning evolved into battle tales, and slowly people shifted, reconfigured, and the war room feel was replaced with that of a campfire talk. Bree and Jacob had escaped early and first, and Aro seemed to have had a hard time keeping the smirk from his lips as he watched them go.

Heidi and Esme went upstairs, and shortly after them, Bella did as well. She didn’t join them in the room where Carlisle had tended to Jack. She instead went to what would have been her space had she been a Cullen, finding it untouched from when she left it last.

Without even thinking about it, Bella moved to the bed and laid down, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of a simpler time. When Volturi crests were nothing more than a graduation gift, a means of protection instead of something almost as significant as a crown. 

As she laid there, she heard someone coming, stopping in the doorway of the bedroom.

“I didn’t want this,” She said with a half-hearted grin, the humor dark. “I wanted him. I wanted Aro who was so unashamed of who he was and embraced it. Who was passionate and unapologetic. And I was really, really stupid to think that I could have him without everything that came with it. He’s the fucking ruler of the vampire world, and somehow I thought I could be just Bella for the rest of eternity.” 

“But maybe being just Bella was always meant to be this?” Alice questioned as she skipped over to Bella. “You looked happy in the visions I had before all this happened. So much more than you ever did with Edward. You could help change things for the better.”

“What did you see?” Bella asked as Alice laid down beside her on the bed. “Edward said he saw fragments.”

“You and Aro together in the throne room. It looked like they added a new throne for you because I could see there were… four? Maybe five? I couldn’t be sure, and the edges of it were blurry enough…. But you two? You and Aro? You were so blissful in your togetherness. There were people coming in saying hello, happy to see you two. I couldn’t see Marcus or Caius in them, but I figured maybe they just weren’t there.”

Bella nodded, taking that bit in. That the visions Alice had always seen may still come to pass simply because Caius and Marcus weren’t in them. 

She mourned for Marcus, missing him, knowing he would never be there, that she would never see him again. But it helped to imagine him in a sort of heaven -if it existed - smiling and dancing about with a pretty girl that had Aro’s long dark hair, and his eyes but was small and dainty. A vampire, of course, because Bella couldn’t picture either of them as anything but. Still, she could imagine them happy to finally be together again, and it did help.

But at what cost? If she was meant to be a leader, and it was painfully obvious Athenodora was not in any state to take Marcus’ place, then his position would have likely fallen to Bella. Even if she had wanted Sulpicia to take over, she could imagine what the arguments against that would be.

“I don’t want this,” Bella told Alice, reaching for her hand and holding on as she looked into a set of golden eyes that shone with sympathy. “I didn’t want to be a queen. I wasn’t a little girl who played pretend and dressed up like a princess, I just….”

“No,” Alice agreed. “But you’re the girl who left what she loved - sunshine and heat and obscurity - to live with her father because her mom was sad staying home with her. Who faced down a vampire alone, knowing he wanted to kill you, to save your mom and did what you could to buy us time to find you. You didn’t even want to leave us behind after you nearly died in our home from a paper cut. You faced what you thought were werewolves, and when I asked you to go with me to Italy to save my idiot brother, you went without hesitation. Even though you thought he didn’t love you. Even though you didn’t think you’d have anything to gain for it. You can be extraordinarily selfless when it comes to those you care about. 

“And yes, you did a lot of things that benefited you as well. We all do. But Bella, you could have run away from everything so many times and you didn’t. You took a stand, you were brave, even when you thought you were being a coward. I would love to know someone like you was leading our kind.” She grinned. “Like when you chose to lead us instead of simply going on the run when all this happened. You may not want to be a leader, but it’s not like you would be doing it alone.”

“I know,” She conceded. “But I’m not qualified, I don’t feel qualified. You’d be better for the job.”

“Flattered as I am, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Aro: I’m better as a proxy.”

“Meaning?” Bella asked.

Alice merely grinned and got off the bed. “Your mate’s coming,” She said before darting off somewhere. 

Aro appeared only a moment later, seeming uncertain. He hesitated in the doorway, then came to sit beside Bella on the bed.

She took his hand and pulled him toward her, and he came easily, stretching out beside her. She curled into him, wrapping an arm around him as she rested her head on his chest.

“Things were easier when you were my secret lover.” She said as his arm came around her. “When we snuck kisses, and stupid little moments together.”

“Like the moment on this bed?” He asked with a lilt of amusement.

She hummed in agreement. “I may have had an army of vampires out to kill me then, too, but the reason was easier to understand.” 

“I suppose it was,” Aro agreed.

After a moment, Bella very quietly said, “When this is over, if you want me ruling with you, I will.”

Aro shifted, and Bella peeked up to see him looking at her in cautious wonder.

“You don’t want to rule.” He countered.

“I don’t.” She agreed. “But if you want it, it is what was expected when I stayed with you.”

“I will not have an unhappy queen,” Aro said with no room for argument. “A throne is not a gilded cage atop a tower, but it might as well be for you.”

“Aro,” Bella sighed, turning her head to breathe him in. “I … I’ll never feel like I belong there, or that I should be. But everyone’s pointed out that I didn’t hesitate to take charge when we didn’t know where you were or if you were alive. And I keep doing it. And I probably have been doing it without realizing it. So if you-”

“Nothing needs to be decided yet.” Aro reminded her, kissing her forehead. “But I do have a couple of people in mind. A terrible thing to keep hidden with Edward around.”

“So you know who you want with you?” Bella pushed herself up to look at him. 

“You make an excellent point about Sulpicia.” Aro conceded. “And she, admittedly, likely expected to be in Marcus’ place since you are very young in many ways. I’d have probably agreed to put her there for a time. But that’s where it gets to be a bit muddied. Because I have another two in mind for different reasons.” He sighed. “But as I said, nothing needs to be decided now. If it’s alright with you, I would like to steal this moment with you here.”

Bella settled back against him and closed her eyes. 

For the first time since she changed, she missed the times she could sleep. Because the idea of curling up and drifting off with Aro as she had nearly a year ago had held so much more appeal than the future that laid before them.

Bella nodded, though now found herself rather curious who he wanted with him ruling in Volterra.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may note that there is an official chapter count now listed. This may change, but only by one, maybe two. The next chapter will likely be shorter, but hopefully will still be out in a couple days.  
> Until then!


	39. Chapter 39

They began to leave the Cullen residence in groups before dawn. 

Some by car, carrying food and supplies for the wolves. Some by foot, running over the border as they never had a reason to integrate themselves into him human society. 

Bella sat in the car with Edward while those that were meant to travel with them had exited the vehicle, running ahead to avoid the border patrol.

“I’m surprised Aro doesn’t have anything.” He commented after they sat in line at the Canadian border for a few minutes, waiting.

“He normally does,” Bella replied. “But since he was on the Volturi jet, and that cleared customs leaving Italy, he didn’t take his identification with him.”

After a beat, Edward asked. “What does it say?”

“Hmm?” Bella hummed, turning toward him.

“His Identification? What does it say? Aro Volturi? Age… what?”

She smirked. “His age is listed as thirty. He can’t remember how old he was when he was turned, so he goes with what he thinks he can get away with. His latest pieces say he was born in March, and that his last name is Cigno.” 

“…Swan?” Edward said after a moment.

Bella merely smiled.

“Bella and Aro Swan, rulers of the vampire world.”

“With at least one other.” She reminded him. “Probably Sulpicia.”

“Because _that_ doesn’t seem weird,” Edward said as he pulled up to the window.

Bella readied her passport, her contacts already in to ensure her eyes matched her photo.

After a very quick, efficient check with the extremely tired border control officer, they were off again.

They were about ten minutes out from the border when Bella unbuckled, climbing into the back. A moment later, and Garrett climbed in the front. A beat after that and Aro was in the back with Bella.

“No issues?” He asked.

“Merely traffic,” Edward replied. “Did you have a good hunt, mister Swan?”

The air around them stilled and Bella did everything she could not to laugh at the horrified look on Garrett’s face. 

Truly, the poor vampire looked at Edward as if he had just announced he had told the border guard their real intentions for traveling before drinking the woman dry and leaving her there for all to see.

“Quite a fine one, actually,” Aro replied unperturbed. “Something about the cooler regions.”

“I’ve actually been considering trying this animal thing,” Garrett said, still looking between Edward and Aro as if he was sure any moment a fight would break out.

“Oh, not another one,” Aro grumbled, and Bella laughed.

“It’s not that bad, honestly.” She said again, and Aro grimaced. 

“If you continue on, I’ll not stop you. But I will take my blood from a human, thank you.” Aro said firmly. “The only thing even remotely appealing in regards to the life style is-”

“I… really didn’t need to see that.” Edward grimaced.

“See wha-?” Bella began to ask then stopped. “Oh, fuck, you were thinking of the bear, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was thinking about the bear,” Aro said in an obvious tone. “You were hunting-”

“Please, don’t say it,” Edward said, and Bella immediately stretched out her shield around Aro. He glanced at her with a smirk, knowing why she did it, and she suddenly grew suspicious.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Bella called him out.

“Of course I am, for how else can you get practice to maintain a hold around someone long term unless you try. And while I will never think or recall you in all of your resplendence, an expression of your bliss may slip by.”

“Well, that’s not too terrible,” Bella retorted. Considering Edward had watched her sleep for who knew how long, she was pretty sure shy of her nudity, there really wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen. 

“But, should your shield slip, he may see some of your more inelegant moments during our time together while you were human. Or, maybe-”

“You’ve made your point,” Bella told him dryly. “Shall I stretch it over Garrett as well?” 

“Please,” Edward said, making Garrett chuckle. 

“What are you up to, my revolutionary friend?” Aro asked. 

“Well,” He dragged out the word. “I’ve noted that our friend here is a bit… embarrassed by some things. And while I’ve never hunted naked or seen anyone doing so, I _have-”_

“Bella, please,” Edward begged, and Bella stretched her shield out over Garrett as well.

“We’ll have no need to stop between here and Alaska. Let’s see if you can maintain it over the two of us for the entire trip.”

“That’s two days,” Edward noted.

“Yes,” Aro agreed. “Imagine the silence in your mind for the next two days.”

~*~

It was bad keeping her shield stretched for two days. 

It was far worse when they got to the north. 

Jasper may have been an expert at fighting newborns, but that didn’t mean he was any less experienced when fighting a regular vampire. He, along with Aro, taught those who needed to who to fight. Demetri and Garrett had begun to as well, but both found they were better served assisting.

“You’re slipping, Bella,” Jasper called and she growled, trying to focus on sparing with Emmett while keeping her shield over Garrett at the far end of their practice area.

“‘S alright,” Garrett called, his voice sounding slurred. “Sorta like it.”

Kate giggled.

Bella liked Kate. She liked how direct she was. She liked that she didn’t give her any stink-eye upon arrival, but respect that seemed to have nothing to do with who her mate was. She also liked Kate simply for the fact that Garrett took one look at her and it was as though the world had tilted for him.

She had no doubt at all that Kate’s very interesting ability to send an electric current over her body wasn’t too terribly intense when it came to Garrett. It was probably her way of flirting.

“Bella!” Jasper snapped, and she growled again. Giving Emmett a rather hard punch before turning to see Liam on his knees with his eyes rolled, and sparks coming from Julie’s hand. 

“What the fuck do you expect me to do?” She demanded, sensing Emmett come for her again. She ducked, but not fast enough, and he had his arm around her torso. Gritting her teeth, she managed to move his arm just enough away from her so she could duck under, shove him away before storming toward Jasper.

“Calm, Isabella,” Aro said, joining them, stopping her before she could get physical with Jasper as well. “He’s merely trying to instruct you, make you aware of where you’re waning.”

“I can’t do both!” Bella argued. “I can’t fight physically while also covering almost forty people.”

She felt a wave of calm wash over her and glared at Jasper who put his hands up in surrender.

“You needed it.” He told her. “You were raging, and rage will not help you focus. Not the way you need to.”

“What I need is a break.” She snapped. “I spent two days covering Garrett and Aro every single second, and now it’s been a day and a half of this. I need to just rest!”

“We don’t have time.” Aro reminded her, gentling his voice. “You must perfect this. Heidi will have contacted someone in Italy, or will soon.”

“I won’t be able to perfect this in a couple days.”

Which had been something she had a hard time dealing with. She could stretch to cover everyone as long as she didn’t have to do anything else. And they tried that. They tried having it so that the more powerful vampires tried to defend her, but short of Ben actually opening a chasm and causing those pretending to be Caius’ people falling into it, they could easily be distracted from their protecting her. Which meant she had to physically fight, but remembering what to do while also making sure everyone’s minds were clear was draining in a frustrating way.

She couldn’t actually get tired, but her mind felt like an aching muscle worked too hard.

And added to the frustrations of keeping her shield expanded and yet still losing people from the blanket of it, every time it slipped too much, she could hear Edward growl at the sudden influx of thought he wasn’t prepared for.

Aro cupped her cheeks, turning her attention fully to him. He squinted, examining her face, then nodded. 

“Go hunt.” He said simply.

“What? No. I don’t need to hunt, I went-” 

“Go. Hunt. Don’t argue.” He said more firmly but still quiet and gentle. 

She huffed, glancing back at the people who were still trying to get some practice in. Slowly, she withdrew her shield from everyone until it was wrapped back around her mind alone. 

“Go,” he said again.

“I’ll go with you,” Edward said, suddenly at her side.

“Of course you will,” Aro said with a hint of a smirk. “And, perhaps, someone else could join you?”

“You?” Edward asked.

“No, I would merely be in the way.”

“I’ll go with you.” Benjamin offered with a smile. 

“Great,” Bella said, “let’s go then.”

She turned from Jasper and Aro, running south with Edward and Benjamin just behind her.

They had gone to the mountains in the Yukon, high enough in a secluded enough area that should anyone actually venture up them, the group out not be easily seen. Near enough to various populations that those among them who were human drinkers could leave and be back within a reasonable time, but not so near that they could somehow draw attention. Those who drank animals how a fair selection to choose from.

She tasted the air as she went, searching for something that might appeal. 

But then she realized she wasn’t thirsty, and that this was really a stupid idea and stopped short. Benjamin and Edward stopped almost as suddenly but moved slightly past her in the processes. 

Bella breathed deep, tasting the cold and recalling a remark from what felt like centuries ago.

“It tastes like ice,” She said suddenly. “Crushed ice that hadn’t been flavored.”

Edward smiled. “Not mint?” He asked, confusing Benjamin.

“I feel as helpless as I did then.” She confessed, meeting gold eyes. “I’m going to let him down. He won’t say it, Jasper’s been the one snapping at me, but he feels everything doesn’t he? Including how disappointed Aro is in me?”

Edward looked around awkwardly, and knowing he would have heard everyone’s thoughts, Bella began to feel the same disappointment in herself.

“If that man is disappointed in you, I hate to see what he looks like when he’s in awe,” Benjamin said, getting Bella’s attention. His lips curled slyly. “He watches you like _you’re_ the one who could move the earth. He’s been trying to coach me, but he’s had an eye on you the whole time.” 

“Probably to see why I’m not getting it.”

“It’s not that,” Edward said with a shake of his head. “Aro’s terrified.”

“He’s what?” Bella asked in disbelief.

“He doesn’t want you to see it, but he’s been trying to run the numbers-”

“When have you heard him? I’ve blanketed him for literally days,” Bella argued.

“But not constantly.” Edward reminded her. “You eased up on him from time to time. And he’s been trying to predict who would be with Caius. How many gifted, what sort? What would be the easiest way to dispatch Jane and Alec, all while wishing there was a way that it didn’t have to come to that.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Benjamin said. “But I didn’t want to say anything because Aro hasn’t mentioned them much. Given what I had heard, I would have thought they would be the obvious target.”

“Jane and Alec are just old enough to not be immortal children,” Bella explained. “They’re barely even teenagers if they were at all. I’ve once likened myself to being the evil step-mom, it’s not terribly inaccurate. And while I’ve never encountered an _actual_ immortal child, I’m told it’s hard not to love them in some way.”

“They were his favorites.” Edward agreed. “Though I hadn’t thought it was because of any parental affection.”

“Affection’s a stretch,” Bella agreed.

“But this is a war, and they have chosen a side.” Benjamin said pointedly. “If there is a way to take them out first, we’ll need to. There will not be enough practice in the world to allow Bella to cover us all as well as defend herself in a handful of days. She’s a newborn, not an ancient.”

“It’s going to have to be we go after them physically first, and just hope we can defend Bella long enough in the meantime.” Edward agreed, then glanced at Bella with a sad smile.

It occurred to her in the seconds between that smile appearing, and Edward suddenly going on alert due to a rustle from some nearby bush that he wasn’t really talking about a collective.

Edward was talking about himself. That he would physically defend her until either the twins were taken out, or he was unable to. That after all this time, his backing down, his clearly seeing what would never be that he would still die for her.

It had Bella frozen long enough that a stray arctic fox fleeing Edward’s - and surprisingly Ben’s - attack had run by her feet having not believed her to be a danger in the least.

~AB~

Aro watched Bella disappear with a sigh, and then turned away, Jasper already focused on someone’s stance of attack. Moved on. Unbothered. The consummate soldier, a fantastic ally. And he’d been keeping most frustrations low so those having difficulty wouldn’t feel as Bella had, and were more willing to keep trying.

But Bella _had_ already exercised her ability for a while, and while she may not realize it, her eyes had grown fairly dark. And as much as he wanted to be there with her, he was glad Edward had offered, as well as Benjamin. Aro would either try and push her to try harder or relent and allow her to do nothing at all until Caius was nearing their location.

“She was doing well,” Sulpicia assured, suddenly beside Aro. 

“I know.” He agreed. “But will it be enough?” Aro asked her, looking her in the eye.

“You’re terrified.” She said with a sad smile. “I can understand it, I suppose. You know the capabilities of those who would side with Caius more than anyone. What biases they would have, whose head they would want more.”

“Those who side with him will want my head most, without a doubt. But I know him. I’ll be his to destroy, and the feeling will be mutual. But I do worry that we are underestimating what we will be facing. I loathe the idea that this will cost the twins their lives because it most assuredly will. And I dislike that this could all be for nothing, and we may all lose.”

“You were far more confident when facing the Romanians,” Sulpicia said in a sort of chiding way.

“It’s because at least with the Romanians, I knew what I had in my arsenal, and what they would not. I don’t know if they brought anything with them when they sided with Caius, and he has my greatest offensive weapons.”

“And your greatest defensive weapon is the woman you love. And once they figure that out, she will be the biggest target.” She said in understanding. “Well, it seems rather obvious that you get Julie to touch hands with Isabella, take on her ability to shield, and-”

“Julie, I’ve learned from observation, absorbs the ability but not the skill. She takes on Kate’s energy, but only has it in her palm. She touches Benjamin, she can only make small things happen. I believe should she try and be a second shield, it would merely protect her mind.”

Sulpicia gave a mewl of displeasure as Aro looked around the crowd.

They were getting better. Truly, under Jasper’s instruction, they were truly shaping up to be a group that might stand a chance with werewolf hunters.

Some were obviously better than others. Those who were generally more passive like the Irish coven had been slower to take up the skill, but those like Benjamin and Tia had expanded on the natural instincts Amun had already been harnessing in them. The Cullens as a whole were more skilled than the Denalis, but they had also fought more than most of these covens, as well as more recently.

“You know we’ll likely not have a full moon when he comes, yes?” Sulpicia said, pulling Aro’s attention back to her for a moment before she indicated the pack.

Jacob had them watching as human, meaning that those who had not been at the house when the wolves had been about had not seen their second form. 

Aro grinned. “They will not need it. It’s quite magnificent, really.”

Sulpicia hummed in interest. “I noted the leader is particularly fond of the small Cullen. Which is… interesting. I also noted he was happy to see your mate when you arrived.”

“They were very good friends growing up, and had been on the cusp of a romance before Bella and I met. Bree, however, seems to be where the alpha’s heart truly lies. For now, at least.”

After a beat of silence, Sulpicia said, “And this is why you were always better suited for the role than most, and especially Caius. I see them interact, and I think of it as an abomination. You look at it, and you see an intriguing romance doomed to fail yet encourage it anyway. You think of him as an alpha, a proper equal.”

“Are you saying you’d not like a throne when this is all over?” Aro asked.

She blinked innocently. “Now I didn’t say that,” Sulpicia replied.

“One will be yours,” Aro swore then and there, meeting her eye so she would know it to be true. “I’ve not chosen another. But Bella is right, and you should be there with me when it’s over.”

Sulpicia remained silent, and Aro couldn’t help but giggle at the prospect of silencing his ex-wife for the first time in all the millennia he’d known her. She remained speechless, a woman given exactly what she wanted and genuinely surprised to have it.

“I’m thinking… perhaps maybe having more than three of us.”

“What?” Sulpicia asked a little louder than necessary.

“I want Isabella with me as well. I believe she’s finally willing to accept it. But if I know her, she’ll want older vampires as well. You, myself, we are ancients. She is a newborn and will be seen as one in the eyes of many for a very long time. Another one or two, I believe, may help keep us balanced.”

“I suppose,” She agreed thoughtfully. “As well as… well, if I’m to be blunt dear one, I think you need someone who truly hates you. Or at least really doesn’t like you. Having your current and ex-wives as your co-rulers.”

“Bella’s not-”

“Semantics, Aro.” Sulpicia cut him off. “Three or five, you need to have someone who you haven’t had in your bed if you want any credibility in who reigns beside you. I will take the offer, of course. And Bella has a right to the position. But I think your thoughts on expanding may work well. Especially as you’ll not have guard as blindly loyal as you had before with Chelsea’s assistance.”

He wouldn’t. It was something he had not really wanted to think on too much, but that was a reality Aro would have to face. If there were any left in Volterra, they’d have likely been killed if they did not flee. And while he had people about the world, Aro realized they were likely killed. 

There would likely not be a sweeping wave of black and grey descending on those who opposed the law. There would just be those who rule with him, and maybe a handful of others. He would like to think Demetri and Felix would stand beside him, and perhaps Heidi would return. He’d have thought to ask Garrett, but given the way, he looked at the lovely Kate, (and the slightly frustrated growl from Edward) Aro had a feeling he’d found a mate connection. 

He’d lose the twins. 

He’d lose Santiago.

He already lost Marcus, Chelsea, Afton. Nearly lost Heidi. 

“Aro,” Sulpicia said softly. “You need to worry about what will happen, not-”

“He’s decided,” Alice said suddenly, interrupting every conversation, every spar. No one moved, waiting on tenterhooks for what she would say. “Caius is leaving immediately, word is being spread, they’ll assemble on the way.” Alice frowned. “I can’t see who arrives.”

“May I?” Aro asked, moving to her side in an instant.

Alice nodded and took his hand.

He brushed past all the new, all the random. He saw visions that have come and gone, those that were no longer. He saw her day to day life, the nervous undertone of Edward possibly glimpsing the future, the ones where his presence or absence among the coven was obvious. How it was a relief when he was away because it helped her believe that she was experiencing what she thought was the future.

He sidestepped the visions of a battle - or more of a slaughter - where Caius found the Cullens no matter where they were and destroyed them all.

Aro observed the latest vision.

_Caius in the throne room, on the center throne. His thorny net moved from the left throne to the center. Stephan and Vladimir on either side of him, exchanging looks with one another as Santiago gleefully told Caius what he learned. And surprisingly from who._

_Behind them a little way, Jane and Alec sat on lower back chairs, and Aro could see it was likely the one he had made for Bella and an identical one that had been brought in later._

_“Heidi managed to make it all the way across the ocean?” Caius asked, a snarl on his lips though not in his voice._

_“She went to find Bella. Found the Cullens had scattered, no one was there. She tried to contact her supposed mistress, but the bitch told Heidi she didn’t care about anyone but Aro.”_

_“So he_ is _still alive,” Caius said thoughtfully._

_“As we said,” Vladimir shrugged._

_“And so we destroy him,” Stephan said casually. “If he is alone with his mate-”_

_“Bella won’t be affected by us.” Jane reminded them all, glancing at her brother._

_“No, but she’s soft,” Caius countered. “And she’s foolish enough to probably believe that she and Aro will survive anything. We go with our tracker and with witnesses, find him and ensure all see that mighty Aro and the would-be leader of the Volturi are dead. Isabella will beg we spare him while you torture him, dear Jane, and then when she tries to stop us from killing him we kill her. After that, I’m sure we can track down the Cullens and their ilk.”_

_“We should leave soon,” Vladimir said with a smirk directed to his coven brother. “Better to rid ourselves of Aro for good.”_

Aro withdrew his hand.

“They’ll find us in about three days, four at a stretch,” Aro said. “Santiago will spread the word, and they will amass on us soon enough. The tracker is familiar with me, and while not as talented as Demetri, he will have no trouble finding me since I’ve no intention of moving.” He smirked. “Amusingly, Caius seems rather oblivious to the Romanians intentions. Either that, or he’s arrogant enough to think they’ll not actually turn on him.”

“So we have three days to ensure we have ourselves ready. Or, at least as ready as we ever will be.” Sulpicia said with a nod. 

Three days. It seemed like nothing and yet a very long stretch. Not enough time, and yet an eternity before all this could be over one way or another.

It had only been a fortnight since Caius usurped him, yet to Aro, it felt almost as long as his time among the Cullens while dealing with the newborns. Yet there wasn’t the pleasantness of courting his soul mate, just the dread that he could lose her before he really had the chance to spend any of his life with her. A year was nothing, a blip, meaningless when there were nearly four thousand others lived without her.

“A word, if you would please?” He said to his former wife, hearing Alice’s sharp gasp. He looked to the pixie vampire and gave a sad smile before gesturing for Sulpicia to go with him. 

He led her a way out, just out of hearing range from the others, which he could see worried her. Aro placed a hand on her arm, over her sleeve, and squeezed.

“I would ask, should something happen to Bella and not to me, that you end me.” He said bluntly, knowing this was not the time to mince words.

Sulpicia stared back at him in horror. “You’re joking.” She said after a moment.

“I am not,” He assured. “I’ll ensure Caius is gone, and I will tell you whatever his motivation was for this whole thing. But if Bella exists no more…. I had waited so long. I was as patient as I could be. I said it once to young Edward, and I meant it: I don’t want to exist in a world where she does not. Not now that I know her. Tell me, Sulpicia, if something were to happen to Calliope, would you carry on?”

She inhaled sharply, turning away and thinking. 

“I want to say yes.” She said after a beat. “I want to say I know she would want me to live on, so I would. And with the promise of being queen… I want to say I would be as strong as Marcus, but he was not as strong as the world believed. I suppose I don’t rightly know. But then, I’ll not have my happiness ripped from me while it was still so new. Nor will I have lost my brother, my coven.”

“I could rebuild my home, my coven. I still have friends. But I could never replace Bella.”

“And what if she does not share your sentiments?” Sulpicia asked, meeting his gaze almost pleadingly. “What if it is you who are gone and she survives and still lives on?”

He smiled. “She is young. And whether she takes my place or gives it up to someone else, it is her choice, and I would love to imagine she could move on in some way or another.”

“With the boy?” Sulpicia asked archly.

“If it were her desire,” Aro said with a nod despite the ache in his soul at the thought of Edward winning his mate’s affections at all. “She is not even a year into this life, I am nearly four millennia. I have known more life without her than with her and I can’t fathom continuing on. She’ll have only known a year with me.”

Sulpicia sighed. “You could still do so many great things, dear one. But if this is truly your wish, then I will grant it. But only after you are certain. You say you can’t live without her now, but you don’t know how you will react to the loss. If it happens, and you still want an end, I will give it to you even if it breaks my heart to do it.”

Aro nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” She shook her head. “You may not be my mate, and we may not always get along, but I love you all the same.”

“Which is all the more reason I need to thank you.” He said with a squeeze of her arm. 

The moment stayed heavy between them, and it reminded Aro of the moment they realized that their love was not enough. That they were not proper mates, and that all the affection and respect in the world would not make such a thing come to be. It dawned on Aro that aside from Bella, there was no one else in the world left that he trusted more.

“We will make a wonderful ruling body, don’t you agree?” He asked her with a smirk.

“Of course we will.” She agreed. “Now, let us rejoin the others. I have a feeling if that Edward boy sees us gone upon their return, he’ll spin a tale of a torrid affair.”

Aro laughed in delight, a momentary reprieve from the heavy as he could imagine the eye roll his love would give the boy, and the intrigue Calliope would no doubt have if only for show.

~AB~

By Demetri’s calculations, they were about seven hours out from Caius’ arrival. If he were to try and find him at this moment, he figured it would only take that long to do so. 

Time was drawing to a close, and most everyone scattered to hunt one last time before the determining battle. The pack was off together, sharing a meal, having final moments together as humans before they may very well die as wolves. Possibly even to get a few precious hours of rest in the meantime.

Bella had already had her fill of blood, had her fill of training and practicing. 

Benjamin had been right, there was no way she’d accomplish what everyone had wanted her to do in a mere couple of days. She could hold her shield for a while, yes, but never indefinitely while moving, and it was always those on the outside of it that seemed to slip out. A part of her was fine with what she could accomplish, but a more vocal part cursed her inability to be better. It could cost someone or many their lives. 

So instead of practicing, or hunting that slight bit more, she stood on the top of a rocky slope that overlooked where they planned to lure Caius and his arm, and watched as the sun cast red over the snow as it set to her left.

A year ago, the threat of Victoria had hung over her head, and she feared for her vampire family and her lover. The year before, it had been James. She hoped if she made it through this, that the laws of three would be satisfied and she’d never have to face another thing like this for at least a few centuries.

Aro, she sensed, had returned. He had gone with Benjamin and Tia, a devious grin on his face when he extended the invitation to join him. As he crossed the snow to where she stood, Bella grinned.

“Did it go as you hoped?” She asked.

“Exactly as I had,” Aro confirmed as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’ve informed Sulpicia, and she is in agreement.”

“Good,” Bella said, turning her head so she could place a kiss on his jawline.

Aro’s lips twitched, but he continued to look out over the tundra.

“It’s the end of a day and the end of an era. Though, I suppose the end of that came a couple of weeks back, when Marcus petrified.”

Bella looked back over the snow, clasping her lover’s hands where they rested around her.

“I’m sorry.” She said. 

“Whatever for?” Aro asked.

“For all this. And whatever part I may have had in it.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for. None of this was your doing. And even if you were somehow a part of the catalyst, that is not on you. I’ll not allow it.”

She wasn’t going to argue that. Much as Bella could point out all the ways she likely was the catalyst or at least a part of the catalyst, it wouldn’t do to dredge that up now.

Turning away from the scenery and more fully into Aro’s embrace, Bella breathed in his scent and remembered getting the feeling of home from it for the first time. How she could picture snow on evergreens, and how he seemed to fit into it perfectly.

The moment would not last, for she heard the sound of about a half a dozen vampires coming toward them.

“When we get through this,” Aro said quietly, “And things have once more settled, I would like nothing more than at least a week of just you and I. I don’t care where, or even what we do. I would just like for there to be no one else.”

“And here I thought you liked me,” Benjamin teased, making Tia chuckle as they came up to Bella’s right.

“I suppose I do.” Aro conceded as Demetri and Felix came up beside Tia. “But you must admit the idea of being alone with your mate holds appeal.”

“If we make it out of this, you’ll not see us in Volterra for at least a month,” Demetri promised.

“Make it two,” Felix added.

“So we’ll see you there?” Bella asked, only barely keeping the hopeful note out of her voice. 

Felix grinned. “You can’t get rid of us that easily. The Volturi worked as a governing body, and it needs people who aren’t in charge for it to continue working.”

“No one has to like us, merely respect us.” Demetri agreed. “And having some familiar faces will ensure that respect.”

“The wind is changing,” Alice said as she came up on Aro’s left, Jasper right beside her, Edward popping up after.

“It’s gonna give us an element of surprise,” Jasper said with a touch of excitement. “We get everyone to hide on the other side of this slop, make Caius think you’re alone to start with, it’s gonna make them all get cocky, then - hopefully- suddenly real nervous.”

“Maybe we can not talk about that for now,” Edward said. “I think for now-”

Alice ducked just as Edward stopped with a frown. He turned and was greeted with a snowball to the face.

Down at the other end of the slop, Garrett looked back at them all daringly, Kate at his side looking as though she wasn’t sure if she should be amused or unimpressed.

“Red sky at night and all!” Garrett called up. “It’s a good omen. I thought maybe we could relax a little.”

To delighted laughter, everyone but Bella, Aro, and Edward raced down to join them, engaging in a little bit of fun as the sun set, ticking down the final hours of what could be the rest of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we know what comes next. The following chapter is big on it's own, and since the epilogue will come shortly afterward, I will try my very best to be good and not post the finale too soon after this one.  
> Once more, I want to thank everyone for your support of the fic.  
> And just an FYI for going forward: It's a war, and there will be loss so not everyone will make it out of there. HOWEVER, I only ever write HEA endings, so take that as you will.  
> Until then


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember: HEA. Also, I'm sorry.

The sun was rising, casting the snow in a golden light as it broke over the horizon. The sky above was still a deep blue, the moon no longer visible though there were still some stars dotting the sky.

Bella and Aro stood at a few hundred feet away from the slop where their friends and allies waited, the light wind blowing toward them, masking the scent of all that were there lying in wait. 

Aro was in his cloak, something he had yet to really part with, and Bella suspected he wore it like an armor. She wore her leather jacket for the same reason.

Hand in hand they waited and Bella knew her heart would have been pounding furiously. In a way, it helped to no longer have a working one. There was no flutter in her chest to add to her nerves, no need for her breath to quicken and betray her true emotions. She could stand tall, proud, regally like her mate and no one would know she was an impostor.

Everything around them was quiet. Deafening quiet and stillness.

The calm before the storm.

Then she could hear it, carried on the wind, the crunch of snow in the distance.

Aro squeezed her hand.

“Whatever happens,” He said softly, “know that I love you. Know that you were worth every second I had to wait for you. And that I would trade our time together for nothing.”

“I love you, too,” Bella said, turning to look him in the eye. 

They stared at one another for what felt like a long time before he touched his forehead to hers, eyes falling shut for just a moment.

Behind them, Bella could hear the murmurs of those having quiet goodbyes of their own. Just in case. She stole a quick kiss from Aro, nothing more than a peck on his lips before he pulled back and stood straight, facing what was coming for them.

It was a dark shadow cast against the sunlight on the snow. A line of vampires marching toward them at an easy pace. 

Bella stretched her shield out around those behind them as well as Aro. It was easy enough for the moment, no one running or fighting. Edward had sworn he would watch her back, something she partly feared, but it was a bit of a reassurance in case the twins couldn’t be easily subdued or taken out right away.

As the group marched nearer, she could see Caius in the center, a pleased smile on his face. Flanking him were two very unfamiliar vampires, but by the way they carried themselves, she had no doubt that they were the Romanians.

Alec and Jane were together, Jane holding a torch proudly in her hands. Bella had no doubt who Jane thought she was going to alight with that, which meant that the pair of vampires on the other side were carrying a torch for Aro.

She clutched his hand a little tighter.

Just past Caius and a line of guards, Bella was infinitely surprised to see Athenodora and Corin. The former was smiling as serenely as ever, looking around the mountain area as though it were simply a lovely place to take a walk. Corin looked deathly nervous.

The group came to a stop about four hundred feet away, and Caius tilted his head to the side and grinned maliciously.

“Aro,” he said with sickly sweetness.

“Caius,” Aro replied genially. “Impressive army.”

Bella scanned the crowd, seeing some familiar faces among the approximately fifty supposed witnesses. Not terribly outnumbered, but enough to make Bella want to tighten her shield.

“The Romanians, too, I see.” Aro continued. “How interesting.”

“And you,” Caius replied. “Nearly three weeks on the run and all you have to show for it is your mate at your side. Did any of our coven actually like you?”

Bella sensed Demetri and Felix move as one without question, jumping over the slop and landing on either side of her and Aro.

Caius laughed. “How utterly pathetic.” He jeered. “Just two? It turns out your coven was more loyal to me than to you.”

Bella noted Alec frown for a moment, and Jane glance at her brother, though neither did anything else to indicate that Caius might be wrong in his assessment.

Still, Bella knew better than to hope they would suddenly switch sides, and that became rather apparent as Jane met her eye and glared.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt when you destroy the one who had the power to _keep_ them loyal.” Aro countered smoothly, but a peek at him and Bella could see the simmering rage in his eyes. “It’s a pity, truly. But then, once I destroy you and build my ruling body from the ground up, I will know who is trustworthy enough to be at my side.”

Felix shifted as though puffing up his chest, and if she thought it would be appropriate for the moment, Bella would have given his hand or arm a squeeze. As it stood, she kept her unoccupied appendage at her side, balling it into a fist.

“Destroy me?” Caius laughed, the Romanians snickering with him. “With what army? The four of you? Your pathetic mate and two average warriors? Oh! Did you band with the Cullens after all? How wonderful,” He mocked excitedly. “Come on out, Cullens!”

Edward came forward first, coming to stand beside her, Carlisle and Esme after. Alice and Jasper joined as Emmett and Rosalie jumped the slope. Bree came, and Jacob was right beside her. 

Bella risked a peek, looking over her shoulder as the rest came trickling over the slope, Benjamin coming to stand with her and Aro, Tia not far behind him. Sulpicia and Calliope stood next to Benjamin, and the Denalis with Garrett followed next as well as the pack all still in human form. 

Bella turned back to Caius, seeing his baffled expression, the Romanians snickering as the remaining vampires came over.

Jane kept looking at various people, holding their eye, her confusion and frustration starting to show. Alec wasn’t much better, his hands out and palms pointed toward his opposition, but it seemed like nothing was happening.

“You brought hybrids?” Caius questioned. “What could you have possibly thought to accomplish?”

Aro grinned, a glee and venom coated teeth smile that spurred a smile of Bella’s own.

“Jacob,” She said, “when you’re ready.”

The ripple was intense, nearly a dozen members of the pack phasing at about the same time. But it was worth it to see the utter horror on Caius’ face, and the disdain and fear on about half of his gathered warriors.

“I once said to the alpha that if we could make enemies of our own kind," Aro told Caius, "then we could surely make allies with our enemies. You can’t imagine how much I enjoy that small bit of foresight right now.”

“I will crush you and scatter your ashes for this alone!” Caius positively frothed at the mouth.

“And I will see you dust for all you’ve done to me and mine.” Aro countered darkly, the smile gone and replaced with a glower.

He let go of Bella’s hand, half crouching.

Caius snapped to Jane and Alec. “Well!” He demanded.

“We’re trying,” Alec assured, “But-”

Benjamin laughed. “Bella,” he said, glancing around Aro and meeting Bella’s eye with excitement. 

“You didn’t think I could hold them off?” She asked with a put-on offense.

Ben shook his head. “It’s not that. Only, you really don’t have to work as hard as you thought you would.”

Bella frowned, and Benjamin wiggled his fingers.

Bella looked to the army across from them, expecting to see stone or ice form around the twins. 

Instead, the fire on the torches suddenly flared, catching Jane, Alec, and two more vampires alight and causing them to drop in a fit of screams.

“Kill them!” Caius screamed, and then there was a flurry of movement as both sides darted for each other. 

Aro and Caius went right for one another, and much as Bella wanted to watch over him, protect him, she knew she couldn’t. As it was, she had the two she assumed were the Romanians coming directly for her.

“I’m with you,” Edward told her, and the pair of them quickly engaged by the ancients.

Bella was not as skilled, that much was made abundantly clear from the get-go, but she was quicker. The blond one that focused on her would swing, and she would duck. He would make to grab, and she would dodge.

He managed to flip her around when she went to charge him, but quickly pushed herself off the ground into a spin kick that Jasper had taught her. It had caused the blond to stumble back and grin as though he was having fun with a child.

Before he could do anything, Edward crashed into Bella, causing them to tumble into a heap. Meeting one another’s eye as her hand covered his, he smirked, shifting his grip, grabbing for Bella, and picking her up. She couldn’t question what he was doing, but she recalled seeing Kate and Garrett doing a similar move and stuck out her leg, making contact with the darker haired Romanian and sending him flying into his coven mate.

Edward tossed Bella down, getting her to land on her feet.

Distantly, Bella heard a horrified shout from their side, but couldn’t pull her eyes away. She did sense someone leaving the bubble of her shield rather abruptly, and it made her feel sick to understand what that meant.

The Romanians charged again. 

The blond one made to reach for Bella but she ducked, darting behind him and almost getting him around the neck when he bit down on her hand almost exactly where James had bit her as a human. It burned, not as bad as the burn of venom had been while human, but still irritating.

She growled, wrenching her arm away and giving a shove. He used it to his advantage and went to charge after her.

Bella dropped, sliding to the ground beneath the blonde’s feet. Grabbing his leg, she tossed him into his friend, sending them flying into each other as two other people abruptly left Bella’s bubble.

“No!” A strangled, high-pitched voice cried out.

“Sulpicia,” Edward said, and Bella stilled in understanding that she had heard Calliope and that it meant…

Sulpicia.

She barely knew the woman, but she liked her. And Aro loved her. And he’d already lost enough of those he called his family. She shouldn’t have had to die, she should have been with them at the end, taking on a throne and being the queen she deserved to be.

Bella met the eyes of the Romanians, venom filling her mouth as her jaw tightened and every muscle in her body coiled. She charged full speed, and smacked into the blond just as Benjamin opened a chasm beneath a few of Caius’ men. 

The Romanian was sent flying, hitting the far wall of the chasm and possibly getting a grip on the side. But before Benjamin could close the chasm, one of Caius’ men managed to toss a wolf in as well, and she could hear the cry of surprise from her foe.

She turned back to Edward, seeing him fighting off a very angered Romanian only to suddenly freeze up as Bella felt another person leave her bubble, followed quickly by another.

The devastation in his face told her everything she needed to know: Edward had lost family.

 _They_ had lost family.

She darted forward, grabbing the Romanian’s arms from behind just as he was about to get hold of Edward’s neck. Seeing Bella seemed to remind Edward where he was, and he went for the Romanian’s head with a fierceness Bella hadn’t seen from him before.

“Paul,” He shouted, tossing the head of the vampire to their ally and watched as he tore it apart a moment.

Not currently under attack, Bella looked to see her mate and Caius were essentially being left alone. It would seem Caius really did have the same rule as Aro, that they were each others, and no one else’s.

“Bella,” Edward said. “Carlisle. Esme, they-”

She shook her head. “Not now. See if anyone needs help.”

“What about you?” He asked, and Bella turned to where her mate was, and just past him, where Athenodora stood with only the slightest bit of worry and confusion, and Corin looking as though she would run away with the woman if she thought she could get away with it.

“I have someone I need to help,” Bella said, charging toward them.

Corin had clearly thought she would somehow be immune to everyone’s awareness, so the shock on her face as Bella came right for her was damn near comical. And if Bella hadn’t been able to feel another soul leave her bubble, if she hadn’t been able to hear the cries of agony, physical and emotional, of the people she called friends and allies, she might have laughed.

Instead, she was pissed. She was enraged. And she wanted to rip someone’s fucking head off.

And Corin, who fed Marcus his contentment, who tried to keep Bella in a tower, who successfully subdued a woman nearly her entire existence, was just the vampire to fulfill Bella’s desire.

She jumped, and Corin clearly had never been taught to fight or defend. The vampire only put her hands up, as if that was somehow going to stop Bella, and Bella landed just behind her, grabbed her from behind, and twisted.

A bonfire was set ablaze nearby, and Bella ran for it, jumping over a fight to toss it in the flame.

She only just managed to dispose of it when she heard Aro cry in pain.

~AB~

It would have been inevitable. After two thousand years, Aro would have to finally touch Caius if he wanted to rip his head off. And while his former coven brother wore gloves, as if that would be some sort of deterrent, Aro did not. And while the two took a few minutes to get from spar to attempting to push one another’s heads off, it eventually came to be that Aro would make skin contact.

_Seeing the aftermath of Didyme’s death was sobering. Seeing the destruction Aro had wrought over the guard, searching for the one who knew, who gave the order?_

_Caius ripped the head off the only one who would know. The only one to whom he said directly, “Well if Aro said ‘by any means necessary’ I suppose burning her to bits would be a means to keep her from leaving, wouldn’t it?”_

_He didn’t know what he would do when Aro went looking for him, but Marcus had pleaded a cessation of the executions. And Aro had listened. Foolishly, he’d done so out of some strange sort of love._

_Love. Marcus was nothing but a shell of what he used to be. The man had been fierce, he’d been commanding. He’d been a damn king, and now he moped on his throne looking like he’d want nothing more than to have his head ripped off. All because his wife had died._

_Which made Caius wonder what the hell would happen to him if Athenodora were to be killed._

Aro snarled, and Caius threw him off. It didn’t last long, as Aro immediately when back to fighting, this time grabbing Caius’ hair and yanking back, hand beneath his chin.

_“Are you sure?” Athenodora asked nervously, biting her lip as she looked at the very lavish rooms._

_“Sulpicia will be with you, as will Corin. You won’t be alone.” Caius placed his hand on her cheek, caressing her marble skin as she looked back uncertain. “You’ll be so content here, and I’ll never have to worry about you. And Aro and Marcus will be around, too, of course. You just won’t be around the lessers. You’ll be the goddess you were meant to be, worshiped from a distance.”_

_Athenodora hesitated but nodded, and Caius sealed his promise of protection and company with a kiss._

Caius kicked Aro away, and then was on him, pinning him down a moment, laughing with a leg on Aro’s neck.

“Your mate and the Cullen boy look rather cozy, quite the pair. They’re even holding hands.”

He knew it was a way to try to distract him, still Aro almost looked out of curiosity. Why would they be holding hands, he wondered? But knew now was not the time for answers. He grabbed Caius and tossed him over his head, just getting to his feet when Caius charged back at him. Hands were around his neck, but Aro pushed back, a hand under Caius’ chin once more.

_He watched from his throne with a sense of betrayal as Aro and Sulpicia ended their marriage before a court of witnesses. The rubies symbolically removed from her crest with Aro’s bare hands. And then he cupped her face and kissed her._

_It made no sense. None. He looked at her as if he wanted her, needed her, and yet they were separating in all official capacities._

_“They aren’t a true match,” Marcus said mournfully, earning Caius’s attention. “They agree it would be unfair to one another should they meet the one they are meant to be with, and were still bound to one another.”_

Aro risked his neck and jumped, the move paying off as the tight grip Caius had around his neck slipping due to the smooth texture of his gloves, allowing Aro to get free with only an ache and a few hairline cracks that quickly healed.

He turned, seeing Caius taking in the scene around him a moment before going for Aro again, only this time with his gloves tossed to the side.

Aro lifted his hands, grabbing hold of Caius’ and pushing back. 

_Aro had been wonderful to have around after he separated from Sulpicia._

_For a time anyway._

_Caius watched as Aro removed the head of one of his lovers with absolute glee. The man had been tempted by the Romanians to gain information and somehow thought that he could please Aro to the point he wouldn’t notice the thoughts or memories._

_“It’s a shame,” Aro said as he tossed the head to a guard to be burned. “I quite liked him.”_

_“There will be others,” Caius stated as the guard cleared out. “Demetri is yet to find someone.”_

_“I’ll not mingle with the guard in that way.” Aro insisted. “Just as I would not copulate with Chelsea, I will not with Demetri.”_

_“Well, when you do find someone to entertain yourself with, make sure they’re more loyal before you’re naked.”_

_Aro laughed, and Caius had wondered for moment if that was half the delight in the execution. That giddiness from his coven brother when he fulfilled all his darker desires._

“You were always better when you were bloodthirsty,” He snarled at Aro. “And weak when you weren’t!”

_“I quite like him,” Aro lamented sadly as the three stood over a pile of books on a table. “Are you sure?” He asked Marcus._

_No, the fool practically begged. It was pathetic._

_Marcus sighed and looked at Aro rather fondly._

_“Let the man go, Aro. He’s not your mate.”_

_“If I must,” Aro sighed. “Shame. William would have made a wonderful consort.”_

_“You love him in your own way, but he’s not yours. Let him go.” Marcus assured, reaching for Aro, probably to comfort him._

_Physical affection. How ridiculous._

_Of course, Aro moved before Marcus could make contact. Love drunk as he was as of late, he was no fool and knew what such sentiment would surely do to his reputation._

_“I had heard,” Aro said after Marcus tucked his disappointment away, “that there is an unusual pair of children with some interesting gifts. They’ll make wonderful immortals, I’m sure. I shall have to see them myself.”_

There was a shout that was familiar, and Aro shoved Caius away in time to see Felix and Demetri tossing literally half of Santiago each into a fire.

“Your numbers are falling, Caius,” Aro egged him, and was not at all surprised to find a hand coming for his throat. He grabbed it, twisted it, nearly snapping it.

_“The destruction, Athena!” Caius told her as they lay in bed, he having worked out his euphoria of the post-battle scene._

_The Romanians had been decimated. Utterly destroyed. No one would join them again after this terrible defeat, the Volturi made sure of it. It had been glorious, the amount of death and destruction laid out on the ground, the many fires and not a single one of the Volturi? It had Caius’ mouth swim with venom._

_He had made a straight line for Athenodora._

_“You sound like you really enjoyed yourself.” She smiled serenely. “I’m sorry I missed it.”_

_“Next time. I promise, next time you will see our victory firsthand.” He kissed her deeply, passionately, thinking of the won battle all because of the two sadistic twins Aro had rescued before they burned alive. He could understand why Aro had been so fond of them._

_“Turn away,” Caius commanded of Corin. “I need more of my wife.”_

_Corin obeyed. She couldn’t go far, not if Caius wanted to ensure his giggling, blissful wife would remain giggling and blissful. But there was no need for her to watch._

Caius laughed at the sound of horror coming from who sounded vaguely like Rosalie.

“So are yours.” He said as twisted away, smacking Aro hard enough that he felt his cheek momentarily splinter. 

So he returned the favor with a punch.

_“He’s disgusting.” Caius sneered._

_“He’s intriguing,” Aro argued._

_“You merely want him for your bed.” Caius shot back._

_Aro pursed his lips and shook his head. “He doesn’t appeal.” He waved his hand as if dismissing the thought. “But animal blood? As a substitute for humans? And he’s never had a drop of what would be natural, it’s positively fascinating.”_

_“Carlisle is, indeed, an unusual man.” Marcus agreed. “He’ll have a connection with you, and… I believe I see another two or three that will link to you as well. They’re faint, perhaps they have yet to come to be.”_

_“All the more reason to have him stay with us.” Aro turned to Caius imploringly._

_Caius rolled his eyes and flicked a hand in Aro’s direction. “Do what you like with him, I want none of it. He’s an abomination to our kind.”_

Caius’ face slowly knit back together.

“I don’t see your pretty little mate!” He snarled. “Where could she have gone, then?”

Aro knew Caius was bating him, trying to distract him, worry him. But he could still feel Isabella’s shield, still felt her essence over him, though not as tight as it could have been. It meant she was alive, fighting, defending as best she could.

He went to punch again, but Caius caught his hand, squeezing.

_“He should have wiped the newborns out and come back!” Caius complained._

_“He’s with his mate there, do you really think he’d simply go there, get the job done, and come home?” Marcus asked in a bored yet ever so slightly amused tone._

_“She’s a human, not his mate,” Caius replied. It didn’t matter that Marcus had seen it, assured it. Until she was one of them she was merely a human, nothing more. And nothing special._

Aro felt his hand start to splinter. He grabbed Caius’ arm with his other and yanked. Caius made to grab at the second hand but wasn’t fast enough to stop Aro from ripping the one he had a hold of from its socket and tossing it aside.

Caius didn’t make a sound, though his eyes darkened and his face pinched. Aro then shoved one hand under Caius’ chin and pushed, all while keeping Caius’ remaining arm from making a grab for him.

_He walked into the throne room when it was supposed to be empty, and discovered it was not._

_What’s more, it was clear that none of them had heard him coming. Perhaps their sense had dulled, or perhaps their low arguing had distracted them._

_“What is going on here?” He asked Corin and Chelsea, darting his gaze to the side to see Athenodora sitting in the blasted chair Aro gifted his mate._

_The two other vampires looked at one another with fear._

_“Well!” Caius snapped._

_Bowing, the two women stepped away, revealing a very nearly petrified Marcus._

_He was on his throne, unmoving, his eyes intensely milky, his gaze barely focused._

_Caius was in front of his coven brother in an instant, looking him over._

_“What happened?” He asked._

_“I believe he became too content,” Chelsea said._

_“Or too loyal.” Corin snapped back._

_“To who? Aro? His own brother? Clearly, he’s been made content to sit and while away-”_

_“Aro,” Caius said flatly, shutting them both up. “Aro, his own brother. But not to me?”_

_No one said anything for a while._

_“He asked me to. After….” Chelsea started to explain, trailing off._

_“After,” Caius sneered. “After that wretched, selfish little wench was killed.” He said, watching Marcus, noticing he hardly got a reaction out of him. Caius shook his head. “She had them both wrapped around her finger, and it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? But Aro did say by any means necessary. You were to stay.” He reached out and touched Marcus’ cheek, so much more lifeless than normal. “Death was the means of keeping you, and look what you became. Pathetic.”_

_“What do we do!?” Corin asked._

_“Let the fool petrify,” Caius said, then turned to Chelsea. “Now, allow me to understand this: you bound Marcus to Aro? Only Aro? And who else, hmm? Who else is bound to only him I wonder?”_

_“No one,” Chelsea replied. “The only one bound solely to Aro is Isabella.”_

_“Broken,” The whisper sounded like Marcus, but it couldn’t have been, he was too far gone._

_But he was right, of course. Trust had been broken. But why? Why had Aro been the soul bound one to their supposed co-ruler? Perhaps he always knew about Didyme. Perhaps he had been biding his time until a suitable replacement for Marcus came along. Or, the more likely scenario, Caius. He was powerless, after all. Aro had collected so many supernatural vampires and bound them all to him._

_“And yet you wouldn’t bind Isabella to me,” Caius asked Chelsea, nostrils flaring as he wondered just how deep this betrayal was rooted._

_“I couldn’t!” Chelsea protested. “She was untouchable.”_

_“Yes, she’s gifted to be mindless, isn’t she.” Caius snorted._

_Mindless, pliable. And Marcus had been fond of her. Aro kept taunting her, wanting her to take up power, take up a throne. Caius’ throne, he was sure. Marcus approved her little outbursts, her little opinions. They were grooming her, he realized. Grooming her as they had once done Didyme. Give her what she wants, let her leave the responsibilities of being what she was so when she returned she would be grateful for them. Want more. They had wanted Didyme because she was Marcus’ mate and Aro’s true sister. Now they wanted Isabella because she was like a sister to Marcus and Aro’s long-awaited mate._

_One Aro should have just shoved in the tower. One who made him just so irritatingly pleasant._

_“Well, I suppose there’s nothing for it then,” Caius said to himself with a sigh._

_In a moment, he had Chelsea’s head in his hands, and turned, ripping it from her shoulders and tossing it hard enough into the fireplace is shattered._

_Corin screamed, and Athenodora watched in placid sadness as he took a long-sticked match from on top of the fireplace mantle and struck it, lighting the end before tossing inside the hearth._

_“Be thankful you keep my darling wife happy,” Caius said without looking at Corin. “It’s the only reason you’re alive.”_

_Footsteps drummed as they rushed toward the throne room, and then the doors were thrown open, Santiago, Heidi, and a few others taking in the carnage. Of Chelsea’s lifeless, headless body on the floor, of Marcus turned to stone in his chair._

_“Master?” Santiago asked._

_“Yes, Master,” Caius repeated with a smile. “You still are loyal to me, aren’t you? How interesting.”_

_“What’s going on?” Heidi asked._

_Caius flashed a grin at her over his shoulder then went to Aro’s throne. Removing the agate plaque from over top, he tossed it like a discus toward Marcus, removing the head of the newly-made statue._

_“I would say it’s obvious.” He said, looking to Santiago. “Call Felix, tell him that Aro should find himself in a rather unfortunate accident while he’s dealing with the break in the law.”_

_Heidi’s eyes went wide as she glanced between Santiago already on his task, and Caius as he sat on Aro’s throne. Always in the center, just a little further out than the rest._

_Aesthetics._

_Caius couldn’t believe he fell for the reasoning._

_“I would suggest, Heidi, that you ensure that Isabella remains with the Cullens. I’ll not tolerate a vampire not following their natural way. It’s weak. I’ll see to removing the bad apples from our own coven than send someone to take care of those among the rest. Starting with that family. She’ll be easier to dispatch while among them.”_

_Heidi hesitated before she nodded and bowed her head, turning and walking away._

_Caius sighed. “Santiago.” He said as the other vampire hung up the phone, having passed along his message. “Get rid of her, she’s going to do something stupid and sentimental I just know it. And when you’re done, get rid of any remaining coven members that attempt anything similar.”_

_Santiago nodded, and then he was gone._

_Caius sighed and looked at his wife. “We’ll need a new regime, my love.” He told her._

_“It’s sad,” She replied. “I quite liked your brothers. But I suppose that means you could get new ones!”_

_“Yes, ones without gifts, I think. Someone who won’t rely so heavily on things that make them soft.”_

_He heard the scream and the crack that followed and smiled, as a second one, male this time, echoing through the castle._

_It made him very, very happy._

Aro’s jaw dropped as the culmination of the truth hit. How horribly Caius had gotten it all wrong.

It was just enough of a distraction for Caius to lunge, his teeth sinking into Aro’s jaw.

 _“And here we thought we would come and find an easy fight_ ,” _Stephan said as Santiago held him by the neck, Vladimir still under Jane’s power._

_“You thought wrong.” Caius agreed. “Now, give me a reason I shouldn’t end you now.”_

_“We know Aro is still alive.”_

_Caius stiffened._

_“Then how did you expect-”_

_“We did not think his favorites would be left behind,” Stephan said._

_At that, Caius glanced to Jane, and she eased her powers on Vladimir._

_“His favorites have shifted since he found himself a mate.” Caius sneered. “But how do you know he’s alive?”_

_“When we heard of the rumors, we went to Malta. They are always so well connected.” Stephan explained._

_“They were warned by Sulpicia,” Vladimir smiled. “They actually asked us to help that smug bastard.”_

_“Why would we want to help him? He who wanted to overthrow us from the start?” Stephan added._

_“Our numbers are small, but so are yours.” Vladimir pointed out. “Perhaps we can come to an agreement and wipe him from existence?”_

Aro cried out as the searing, burning pain of foreign venom sunk into his skin just shy of his neck. Near enough that when Caius pulled back, he would only have seconds to shove him away before his once-brother could put those teeth where he intended and remove Aro’s head.

And then he was gone, physically removed from Aro’s person and skidding across the snow with a snarl.

Then there was Bella, once more at Aro’s side, glaring at Caius and starting to shift into a crouch.

Caius stared at her as if he didn’t know what to think of seeing Aro’s mate coming to his defense. As if he wasn’t sure she actually intended to fight him. As if a pair of mates standing with each other, defending one another and fighting together, was absolutely hilarious.

Caius opened his mouth when something blurred behind him, a figure racing toward him. 

Athenodora.

Looking for protection, perhaps, or to ask him to stop the fight.

Then her hand came around his neck, holding his chin as she approached from his armless side and bit into his neck

Aro’s eyes widened as he watched the most placid creature he’d ever known rip the bewildered head off her mate, then kick the body toward a bonfire.

Stunned, Aro glanced at the remains of his brother, seeing Jacob as a wolf pick it up in his mouth and proceed to destroy it.

Athenodora watched it as well, seeming fairly indifferent before lifting Caius’ dazed and half-gone face to hers.

She kissed his unmoving lips. “I’m sorry,” She said to the head. “I love you so much, but you would have just found another way to keep me locked away. Which makes me hate you almost just as much.” She caressed his face, and then tossed the head toward the fire as well, this time watching as it rolled past Jacob and into the flame.

Aro remained unsure what to do as Athenodora came toward him, then dropped to her knees before him.

“I’d like to surrender.” She said with her eyes closed. 

“Athenodora,” Bella said as she knelt beside the blonde vampire, putting her hand on Athenodora’s shoulder. 

The blonde opened her eyes and looked at Bella. “I remember you.” She said with a faint smile. “You tried to help me.”

Bella nodded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. And I’m sorry I left you there.”

“There was nothing you could have done.” She assured.

“Athena,” Aro said, finding the nickname odd on his tongue after not using it for so very long. She looked up at him, and he stuck out his hand for her to take, expecting her to grip him by the sleeve.

Instead, her hand touched his as she pulled herself up.

_There was nothing. A cloud. A haze. Happiness. No, contentment. Merely content. Content to stay in the white and gold room. Content to have her humans brought to her. To have a cut placed on their neck so she knew just where to feed, no need to possibly make a mess. Content to see only Corin, and to have her intimate moments with her husband always public because what would happen if Corin went too far and she was no longer content?_

_Time meant nothing. And many times she found it hard to get up. To move. To not simply stay still and stare at nothing. Some times it felt like she had been stiff, which was odd, because why would she be stiff? She recalled vague mumblings from Corin about petrifying, but how could that be? Why would she cease to exist when she was content to live her life stagnantly?_

_She wanted to participate in conversations with her husband and his brothers, but why? She was content enough to stay silent and watch. Watch the dance Aro made from one to the other. Watch the sad exchanges made between brother and brother-in-law when a harsh comment from Caius made them remember._

_There was talk of a ball, and oh how she wanted to_ go _. But no, Caius said he would not risk her. Though he said it would have been terribly amusing if Athenodora’s being near a human caused her natural instincts to take over. Aro was foolish enough to wait to change his mate. It would serve him right._

_There was talk of a new friend, and oh how Athenodora longed for a friend. But deep inside, the long-buried voice of reason screamed and raged that another would be subjected to this. But why rage? Why be angry when life was so comfortable and safe and filled with contentment._

Aro let go of her hand as she was steady on his feet.

“Oh, Athena.” He shook his head. “I’m so sorry for all you endured.”

“It was not your fault.” She assured. “You didn’t put me there. Caius did,” She said mournfully, looking at the fire where her husband burned.

Aro looked around, realizing that the last of Caius’ men were being torn apart by wolves, and the sun had fully crested over the horizon.

“It’s done.” He said simply. “We’ve won.” He looked to Bella, and for a moment elation shot through him.

They were victorious! They came out of the battle alive and it was all that mattered for a moment. And for just a second, it was all that mattered to Bella as well, and then her face fell and her eyes glittered.

“We lost Sulpicia. Carlisle, Esme,” She said, her throat working to swallow.

Aro yanked her into his arms and held firm, feeling her shake as he himself endured the sharp sting of grief strike him. He clung to Bella as the sick understanding that he would never see his first love again, that the woman who he was supposed to have ruled with him, was no more.

And Carlisle. His friend. _Stregone benefico._ The world, both human and vampire alike, lost someone who had so much to offer both. Aro had lost one of his oldest friends, someone who did not have the stigma of having been part of his guard attached to it. And lovely Esme, kind and matronly, a second and better mother to his mate than Bella’s own mother had been. 

He held Bella a little tighter as Aro watched a glassy-eyed Edward and a stoic Benjamin, hand in hand with Tia, walk toward them.

“I’m pleased to see you made it through, my friends.” Aro greeted them all.

“And you,” Benjamin said as he extended his hand. Aro stepped away from Bella, clasping Benjamin’s hand with as sincere a smile as he could muster given the loss.

“Bella told you,” Edward said, and Aro turned to him with a nod. Edward returned it. “We lost the entire Swedish coven. Colin, Jared, Brady from the wolves. Quil has a broken arm - front leg - that I set.”

“Where’s Calliope?” Aro asked, looking around at the aftermath to see if he could find her.

“Mourning,” Edward replied. “Sulpicia moved to save her and was knocked into a fire for it. Calliope managed to destroy the one who did it, but she went catatonic after. Rose and Emmett protected her after.”

“What does she look like?” Athenodora asked, and Edward met her eye, appearing weary. 

“She is dainty. Dark hair, a bit curly. Gold-toned skin. She has a penchant for white like you,” Aro told her, and Athenodora smile sadly.

“If I may?” She asked, and Aro nodded, watching Athenodora glide over the snow in search of the vampire she sought.

“How did Carlisle and Esme…?” Bella asked, choking a little on her words.

“Carlisle went to help Colin when he was overwhelmed, and he was pulled apart from behind. Esme went to avenge him but Bree said she didn’t seem to have the will to fight.”

“How is she?” Bella asked, looking around the field. 

“Jake has her,” Edward assured. 

“How many others were injured?” Aro asked, feeling the bite on his jaw rather pointedly.

“Tanya lost her arm, it’s been put back but seems off. Emmett lost an ear when someone tried to bite his neck and missed.” Edward cringed.

“All the others were easily repairable, or bite marks,” Benjamin added, gesturing to Aro’s new scar. “Not a complete victory. But victory all the same.”

He felt Bella’s arms wrap around him again, and he took hold of her gladly. Benjamin did the same with Tia, and as Aro looked once more over the expanse before him, there were many other mates doing the same. The wolves huddled together, mourning their losses with a howl, and Bree buried her face in the russet fur of the alpha. And a pair of widows hugged one another in the snow, despite being widowed for different reasons.

“Bittersweet to be sure,” Aro said, thinking of how terribly wrong Caius had viewed things. “But now we may move on, mourn our losses. Begin to rebuild.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last bit will come very shortly after this one is posted.


	41. Chapter 41

Bella realized over a year ago that it often took being right in the middle of something to realize that a decision made could very well be the wrong one. 

Staring at the five thrones in the Volturi throne room made her realize that perhaps she’d jumped the gun a little in regards to taking one up.

She very much was not ready.

Which was completely stupid because as so many people had already pointed out, she’d been acting the part for a few months. She was the reason there was even a small army on the north Canadian mountain that day two months ago because she asked for help. She asked for defense. 

It was, perhaps, because she didn’t want to be a leader that she still found the thrones - all five the same size, black, each with a round disc placed on the top - intimidating. Aro’s was still in the center, his brown agate disc replaced. Much to her displeasure, hers was to his right. Despite the thrones being aligned, a perfect row of five, she hadn’t really wanted to be so central. Yet there it was, the disk composed of an array of swan feathers marking it as hers. Bella’s eyes skimmed over the others. The one to her throne’s right bearing a disk of amber etched with a lion. The one to Aro’s left was glass filled with golden sand. To the left of that, green, vibrant thorns and red and white roses marked the last one.

They looked like they fit well together, and so far the dynamic of the five that sat among them fit too. It wasn’t without the occasional bumps, of course. There was a lot of history between three of them, history that started in the very room she stood in. 

“You’re having regrets.” Aro’s voice echoed in the empty room, his footsteps a softer sound as he glided over the stone.

“No,” Bella said firmly. “I’m just worried I won’t be the right fit for the job.”

“That is why there are five of us, for when you feel undecided or unsure.” He said as he came to her side, taking her hand and pulling her up on to the dias. He guided her to her throne, turned her, and gently pushed her down onto the seat. “But you look exquisite here.”

She huffed a laugh and turned her head away to try and hide her smile.

He’d called her exquisite that morning when she dressed, too, though she hadn’t really been sure why. She still wore jeans, though upon Heidi’s insistence she chose to wore heeled boots. Bella had opted for a black, sleeveless turtleneck, and over that wore a charcoal, open cardigan that flowed to her ankles. 

And of course, the Volturi crest.

There had been a discussion on if it should be changed to reflect their new coven, but it was considered a well-known symbol in the vampire world and would remain as it was.

Aro fell to his knees, dressed identically to how he was the day they met. Exactly the same except for the mark of betrayal on his right cheek.

“I thought there were five because  _ you _ didn’t want to choose?” She countered.

He arched a brow. “While Athena earned her right, and it would have been terribly hard to choose between you and Benjamin if it came to it, do you  _ truly _ believe I’d have had had-”

“Yes,” Bella interrupted with a grin. “Because it’s what you wanted for longer than you wanted me. Even if it was only by a few days.”

Aro let out that delightful laugh that Bella had finally accepted she would never get used to and stretched up to kiss her lips.

“I’ll always want you more than anyone for any reason,  _ mia amata regina _ .” 

She snickered, then moved her hands to cup Aro’s cheeks, running her thumb delicately over his scars as she closed her eyes and basked in his affection.

It didn’t take long for him to deepen their kiss, nor for Bella to melt into it.

“I thought we agreed that we’d have decorum here?” Edward asked as he walked in, interrupting the moment and making Aro growl in his throat, snarling ever so slightly before getting up and taking his throne.

Edward, either hearing Aro’s thoughts (which were likely filled with colorful commentary) or merely knowing he how he irritated him, smirked as he climbed the dias and took his seat to Bella’s right.

The Cullens, understandably, had been a little lost after losing the parental figures of the coven. No one had really wanted to stay in Forks except Bree, and it would have been rather difficult for her to stay there alone when news spread that Carlisle and Esme perished in a car accident on their way to visit family. 

As of now, Bella understood that Rosalie and Emmett were there to pose as her guardian until such a time that Bree could pretend to go off to college, and merely live in one of the small cabins on the property where she could be with Jacob when she’d like. Jack would live with her, close enough to the reservation for Leah to be able to get to know and bond with him, yet not so close to make the pack who were uncertain over the actual match to be bothered.

Alice and Jasper had decided to travel, and as a bonus had spread word of what happened among the Volturi to those they met up with, Peter and Charlotte doing the same for a time before their more introverted ways resumed.

But Edward remained an odd one out. No mate, and while he favored Alice he had no desire to play the third wheel to her and Jasper. He had asked to go with them to Volterra, to perhaps be a part of the guard after all. Aro had offered him more.

_ “It was Sulpicia’s suggestion _ ,” He’d told Bella afterward.

Her eyes fell now to the statue by the throne room door carved in her likeness, Calliope at her side in stone. 

The real Calliope had disappeared, and no one knew as of yet if she was still among them, or if she couldn’t bear the pain of losing her mate.

The ache in Bella’s chest at the mere idea of losing Aro had her reaching for his hand, interlocking their fingers. He gave a squeeze, and she glanced over to see his eyes had fallen to the statue on the opposite side of the door from Sulpicia’s.

Marcus was smiling in his carved form, and his attention was focus on the woman in his arms. Aro said it was a near exact likeness of Didyme, the small, beautiful figure carved based on drawings found in Marcus’ study that he’d created over the years. She resembled Aro a little less than Bella had expected, but as still every bit as enchanting as everyone said she had been in life. 

It had been their way of honoring Marcus as Bella had wanted, and a way to remind themselves and others who had been among the originals.

Benjamin came through the doors with Tia, kissing her quickly before he skipped up the dias and took his seat next to Aro.

Where Edward wore an outfit similar to Bella’s, with a lighter pallet and a jacket instead of a sweater, Benjamin had discovered modern formal wear, opting for what he said as a dashiki style shirt in black and gold. 

“Not that I doubted you,” Bella said as Tia took her place to the side where Bella once had, “but you do look good.”

“I’m aware,” Benjamin preened, and Tia scoffed with a smile at her mate.

Demetri and Felix came in, the former giving an exaggerated bow in Bella’s direction before they went to Tia’s side. They only just returned a couple of days before, as they had said they would. And the one who greeted them the most enthusiastically was the one who came through the doors next.

It wasn’t just the newfound confidence in the way she wore her scars, the marks of her survival, that marked her as changed. Her nearly completely golden eyes looked good on her. Animals, it turned out, had been easier for her to hunt and drink. And while she was very clear it wasn’t nearly as satisfying, she could survive. Edward almost always hunted with her, Bella had occasionally gone with them, and so did a couple of members of their new guard.

The rest came in trickles. Vampires who fled before Caius had managed to decide who they were more loyal to. A couple who had been part of Sulpicia’s coven. A couple from the Japanese coven that Aro had spared, offering to be part of the guard until such a time that they could build the guard as Aro and the original Volturi once had. Only now without the powers of Chelsea binding them. Now, as Aro had teased, it would be up to their collective charms to bring people into their coven.

His hand flexed against hers, pulling Bella’s attention once more.

“Athena,” He greeted warmly.

“Aro,” She returned the greeting with a smile.

She still reminded Bella very much of Sleeping Beauty, only now she was awake, and much more herself. Or at least was learning who she was. 

Athenodora took her place beside Benjamin, a nervous sigh escaping her lips.

It would be a few minutes before the curious nomads who heard the rumors would arrive. Those that listened to the whispers of how the Volturi was being reshaped, renewed. That the first court session would happen a month after the summer solstice, and that they would be greeted with a very different sight should the venture into the throne room.

That they would see not three ancients, but five vampires of varying age and varying diet. 

That they would see various cultures and moral understandings based on the eras they came from. A new ruling body for a new age. One to still be feared, but not reviled.

At least, that’s what they hoped

“Are you sure about this?” She asked, looking down the line at her co-rulers. “Are you sure we’re ready?”

“We are,” Aro said with certainty.

“You’ve nothing to worry about,” Edward assured her with a genuine smile. “They’ll adore you.”

“Thank you, Edward,” Athenodora replied softly. 

Bella looked to Aro, catching the slight smile on his lips before he turned to Bella and it grew. Her heart swelled, her soul sang, and maybe for a moment time had seemed to stand still. Long enough for the look between them to say how much they loved one another. How happy they were, and how hopeful they were that this future would work out. That the vision Alice had seen of them greeting people happily, of simply  _ being _ happy for a long time and for all to see would still come to pass. Perhaps this day, perhaps one in fifty or a hundred years.

Outside in the city square, Bella could hear the clock tower chime the hour, heralding the midday, and the official beginning of the first court of the new Volturi. Aro lifted their joined hands, bringing Bella’s to his lips and placing a reverent kiss to the back of it as the first of the nomads came in.

Aro got to his feet, his grasp on Bella’s hand encouraging her to stand with him. 

So she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well holy crap, it's done. I had not really expected this epic to come out when I posted what has now become the first chapter. This pairing was what I like to call a "rabbit hole" find over a year ago and it intrigued me so very, very much. I really like seeing pairings between commonly loved or liked heros/heroines and characters meant to be cast in a dark or evil light. I can't say I ever thought the Volturi were actually evil, but either way.  
> That said, this account was more or less created as a pseudo because to be honest I had no idea how pseudos worked here. Mixed messages said everyone who followed my main account would get the notification regardless of the name I published under when this fic was created. And the last time I wrote a story for a big fandom with a beloved female lead and an unpopular male character I got a bit of flack for it from the other fandom I was writing in at the time.  
> So, that said, if you're still with me, and you happen to like Good Omens or Doctor Who, you might find something that interests you on my main account, [mltrefry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mltrefry/works). I may have linked the pseudos properly now, so the name may appear a little different. Still me, I swear.  
> As said before many chapters ago, I make playlists for all my writing and if you would like to see the one for this fic, you can see it [ here.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/57QA6L4YbWsvr3y3mJI4lE?si=-OphCQBpT6CoucLtp32_Qw)
> 
> Again, and always, thank you to all of you who read, silently or otherwise. I appreciate every single one of you.


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